VTRY (Old Version)
by no-one-is-special
Summary: A team consisting of the youngest scion of a legendary huntsman, the heiress to a distinguished military family, the son of the world's most wanted hitman, and a first generation hunter from Menagerie. What could possibly go wrong? (Discontinued. Going through rewrites.)
1. Arrival at Beacon

"Hey partner, you ok?"

Vincent's eyes shot open as he fell from his seat. As he sat up on the ground he quickly looked around. All around him were his fellow initiates. Some were talking to their friends. Others were showing off their weapons to new people. Most were watching the mountains slowly pass by as the airship flew past. That's when his eyes fell on the one who had woken him from his nap.

He was a light skinned boy, about his age, who was wearing a long brown duster coat with crossed revolvers stitched onto both sleeves, a grey shirt underneath, faded blue jeans, and a wide brimmed hat. His black hair was pulled into a ponytail, and his steel gray eyes seemed to be doing regular scans of everything around him. Almost as if he expected someone to attack him at any moment. At his belt were two rather large revolvers. The boy offered his hand and spoke again, the words coming out slowly.

"Are... you... ok... man?" he asked again.

Taking a moment to shake the sleep off of him, Vincent nodded as his perception of time returned to normal and he took the offered hand. "Yeah, I'm fine. Why what's up?"

"You were shaking in your sleep buddy." the gunslinger locked his fingers around Vincent's wrist and pulled him up. "Must've been one hell of a nightmare."

"Heh-heh, I wouldn't say a nightmare exactly." Vincent replied as he thought back to his dream.

* * *

 _Vincent stared up at the beringel, his sword, Daylight, held tightly in his right hand, his triple barrelled shotgun, Flare, in his left. Behind him stood his teammates, three shadowy silhouettes._

 _"Don't worry guys." Vincent stated as he charged for the large gorilla like grimm. "I got this." With a loud battle cry Vincent swung his sword, only for it to bounce harmlessly off the beringel's hide with a squeak. Crying out in surprise Vincent aimed Flare at the beast's head… which was immediately followed by the gun deflating his hand like a balloon. "Oh geez."_

 _Staring dumbly at his now useless weapons, Vincent looked up at the beringel just in time to watch its fist slam into him with the force of a crashing train. Vincent flew through the air, articles of clothing flying off of him till he was left only in his boxers. When he hit the ground he slid back about ten extra feet before finally coming to a stop._

 _After brushing himself off Vincent noticed exactly where he had landed, right smack dab in the middle of the Farewell Dance at Signal Academy. All eyes were on him, several of the girls chuckling at his lack of… decorum_

 _"Heh, hi guys." Vincent chuckled nervously, "Well at least it can't get any worse." It was in that moment that his underwear turned to red dust and exploded._

* * *

"Needless to say the laughter only increased after that happened. It's probably a good thing you woke me up when you did. God knows what would've happened after that." Vincent finished explaining his dream to the amusement of his companion. Vincent chuckled as well before extending his hand, "I'm Vincent, Vincent Helsing."

"Roland Harker." the gunslinger returned, shaking Vincent's hand. "You from Vale?"

"I was born here but my parents like to travel. So I kinda grew up just about everywhere. How about you?"

"Stuck in Vacuo my whole life with my… with my Pa."

"So why Beacon over Shade?"

"I needed a change in scenery. Ozpin offered. Here I am."

"You were invited by Ozpin himself?"

"Hello and welcome to Beacon." cut off whatever Roland's reply was and drew the attention of everyone in the room to a hologram of a tall blonde woman dressed in a black and white dress suit, and a black and purple cape. "My name is Glynda Goodwitch, you are among a privileged few who have received the honor of being selected to attend this prestigious academy. Our world is experiencing an incredible time of peace. And as future Huntsman and Huntresses, it is your duty to uphold it. You have demonstrated the courage needed for such a task, and now, it is our turn to provide you with the knowledge and training to protect our world."

"Huh, you think they play that same message every year?" Roland asked as the hologram faded and Beacon Academy became visible through the window.

"I wouldn't doubt it." Vincent clapped his hand on his new friend's shoulder as he watched as the large castle of a school resting on a cliff grew closer and closer. He let his semblance take hold, slowing his perception of time to a crawl, so he could enjoy the moment just a bit longer.

* * *

Teresa stood amongst the other students in the great hall while they waited for the headmaster, Professor Ozpin, to make his opening address. Glancing idly from side to side, she tried to determine who in the room would make good teammates, and who would be dead weight.

As she scanned the crowd her eyes fell on quite honestly the largest man she'd ever seen in her life to her right.

At five feet and four inches, Teresa was about average in terms of height among women in Atlas. This guy towered over not only her, but just about everyone else in the room. He had to be at least seven feet tall and looked to be about half as wide across his chest and stomach. He wore a gray leather jacket with a brown fur collar and a roaring bear's head patched onto each shoulder over a plain white shirt and simple black pants and boots. His brown hair was short but messy and his amber eyes seemed to be scanning the room.

When they fell on her their eyes locked and Teresa quickly looked away. A few seconds passed before she chanced a sidelong glance over to him. He was making his way over.

' _Great_ ,' Teresa thought, ' _I'm either about to meet my first ally, or confront my first enemy._ ' Teresa almost expected the ground to shake with each step the giant took. When he was finally in front of her, Teresa felt like a small child about to be scolded by an annoyed parent. She also noticed that all of the other students around her seemed to be giving the two of them a wide berth.

The giant stared down at her before he knelt so their eyes were level and offered his hand. "I'm Yuri Hawthorne." he stated, his voice surprisingly soft for a guy his size.

Teresa looked at Yuri's meteor sized hand before seizing it with her comparably tiny one. She felt a number of callouses at the base of his fingers and across his palm, but the gentle firmness of his grip surprised her. She wasn't sure if she should be grateful that Yuri seemed to know his own strength, or insulted that he thought she was fragile. She opted for the former and greeted him with a warm smile.

"Nice to meet you Yuri, Teresa Belmonte. Please, call me Terri."

"Pleasure to meet you as well Terri." Yuri replied before releasing her hand and rising to his full height again, "So what were you looking around for?"

"I was trying to see if I could find any potential teammates."

"Anyone stand out?"

Teresa blushed slightly, "Well to be honest I kinda got distracted by… well you."

"I'll admit I can be a bit distracting." Yuri laughed, "Well luckily for you I was doing the same. With a much better vantage point I might add."

Teresa smiled at Yuri's good natured poke at her height. "Well let's hear what you got."

"Girl, brown hair, fashionable looking outfit, eight o'clock." Teresa looked in the direction given and picked out the student Yuri spoke of. "She seems quite sure of herself. Naturally I'm assuming that confidence is born of her skill and experience, but I could be wrong."

"Hmm, looks like she's giving a pep talk to that other girl." Teresa mentioned noticing that the girl was talking to a brown haired rabbit faunus. "Indicates friendliness and a supportive personality. She seems like she could be a good teammate."

"Possibly." Yuri agreed, "Moving on, three o'clock, two boys, one dressed like he's in a cowboy movie and the other wearing the red shirt with the sword on his back. See them?" Again Teresa picked out the students Yuri indicated. One was indeed dressed like he had just walked off the set of a Vacuan, western, gunslinger movie. Wide brimmed, ten gallon hat and everything.

The other wore a scarlet long sleeved button up shirt with an unbuttoned burgundy vest over it and black pants. A sword was strapped to his back, and tied to his belt was a red cloth and a triple barreled shotgun. His strawberry blonde hair was worn loose and short. The two of them were just standing together, talking and laughing.

"Alright I give up. One's questionable fashion sense aside, what's special about them?" she asked unable to determine exactly why Yuri had singled them out.

"They're calm, relaxed. Most of the others here, even if they seem relaxed, reek of anxiety and fear. Not them."

Teresa raised an eyebrow at the comment, "Oh really? Well what about me? Do I reek of anxiety and fear?" Yuri smiled, flashing some rather pronounced canines.

"No. Not fear, impatience."

* * *

Roland sighed happily as he laid back on his sleeping mat. Having stowed away his combat gear, including his pistols Lightning and Thunder, for the night, he was now wearing a simple grey undershirt and black pajama bottoms, although his favorite wide brimmed hat still rested on his head, tilted forward so he didn't crush it underneath him. He'd lost track of Vincent after Professor Ozpin's, "extremely motivational" speech.

"How'd it go again?" he muttered to himself. ' _Something about all of us being full of wasted energy and blah blah blah. Who cares? He said it, it's in the past, focus on the now._ ' And right now Roland was more interested in meeting someone new than sleeping. After pulling himself to his feet, the gunslinger made his way over to where a large group of people had gathered. After elbowing his way to the front of the group Roland saw what had gathered the crowd. Two rather large guys were having an arm wrestling match.

Both must have been about seven feet tall standing up and had tanned skin but that was about their only similarity as far as physical appearance went. One had cropped black hair, an athletic build in a green robe, and almond shaped eyes that marked him as being from Anima. The other had short messy brown hair, large amber eyes, had the build of a brick house with small layer of fat over what must be solid muscle and was wearing only sweatpants. By all appearances they were about equal in strength because neither one of them giving any ground.

"How long's this been going on?" Roland asked the girl next to him.

"About three minutes." she replied after checking her pocket watch. Roland gave the girl a once over. He recognized her from the great hall earlier today. She was pretty, with glossy black hair resting over one shoulder, long eyelashes, and bright, almost glowing, blue eyes. Earlier that day he'd seen her wearing a loose black shirt with red filigree running along the sleeves, a small shield with a snapping whip was embroidered over her heart, white pants and knee high leather boots. Now she was just wearing a comfy looking gray nightgown and slippers.

"Name's Roland, Roland Harker." he introduced himself with a tip of his hat and an extension of his hand. "I must say it's a pleasure to meet ya, miss…"

The girl took his hand in a firm grip and shook it once. "Teresa Belmonte. Feel free to call me Ter…"

"Teresa, may I just say you are more lovely than the shattered moon on a clear summer night." Roland stated before giving Teresa's hand a quick kiss. Teresa lifted an eyebrow at Roland's declaration and slowly removed her hand from his.

"Is that guy... bothering you Terri?" The large shirtless guy asked, his distraction allowing his opponent to gain some ground on him.

"Don't worry about it Yuri, just focus on your match." Teresa assured him while looking Roland straight in the eye. "While I do appreciate the compliment Mr. Harker…"

"Please, call me Roland."

"I regret to inform you that, you're not my type."

Roland was about to reply when he felt a sudden falling sensation. Before Roland knew it he was somehow on the opposite side of the ring gathered around the two arm wrestler's. Looking across he saw Teresa smirk at him before returning her attention to the match.

"I think she likes me." He chuckled lightly to himself before he gently nudged the guy he'd landed next to. "20 lien on the big guy. You in?"

* * *

 _A/N: Welcome to my first RWBY story. Thank you for choosing to at least give it a look and feel free to tell me what you liked, or what I need to work on, always up for constructive criticism. Quick question, who knows how VTRY is pronounced? Either answer in a review or send me a PM. First person to guess will either receive a cookie or can submit a character to add to the story... cause I'm gonna need a few of those. Anyway, again thanks for reading, I hope you all enjoy._


	2. Initiation

The next morning Professor Goodwitch had woken everyone up and quickly escorted them to the locker rooms to collect their equipment. Vincent reached into his locker and pulled out his scarlet shirt and burgundy vest. He quickly put them on and buttoned the shirt up before strapping Daylight's scabbard to his back and buckling Flare's holster to his belt.

As he tied the cloth printed with his family's emblem, a crossbow pointing skyward, to his belt, he noticed the girl at the locker next to his started trembling. She wore a zipped up brown jacket with brown shorts and black leggings. Her brown hair fell loosely down her back, and the large, brown furred, currently drooping, rabbit ears told Vincent she was a faunus.

"Hey." Vincent placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. He felt her jolt when his hand touched her. He forced himself to suppress an amused smirk as the girl slowly turned to him. She had a soft, pretty face. Her large brown eyes were downcast. "You alright?"

The faunus nodded once, finally meeting Vincent's eyes with her own. "Yeah, just nervous. I'm sorry I disturbed you." Her voice was soft but full of tension. Like she was afraid that the wrong word might set someone off.

"Don't worry about it." Vincent gave her shoulder a gentle pat before he offered his hand. "I'm Vincent Helsing."

The girl's eyes widened upon hearing his last name. She looked like she wanted to say something before changing her mind. Vincent wasn't at all surprised by her reaction. Just about every faunus he'd ever met had a similar one when he told them his family name. Typically that was the end of any relationship with them. Given what his grandfather had done during the Faunus Revolution, he couldn't really blame them. He was about to pull his hand back when he felt her warm hand wrap around his own.

"My name's Velvet Scarlatina." she gave his hand a shake, a shy smile playing across her lips.

"Well Velvet, it was nice to meet you. Maybe I'll see you down in the forest." Vincent stated, a big, goofy smile on his face, before he started for the exit. He was about two lockers down before he turned on his heels. "Oh and don't be nervous. Beacon only accepts the best of the best. The fact that you're here means that you are one of the best. You'll be fine." Vincent's smile only widened when he saw Velvet's rabbit ears perk up as she nodded appreciatively.

* * *

Roland only half listened as Professor Ozpin explained the nature of their initiation exercise. He got the gist of it. They were to be launched into the Emerald Forest, team up with the first person they made eye contact with, find their way to an abandoned temple, collect a relic and return it to Ozpin and Goodwitch. Easy peasy.

' _Oh and there's the small issue of the forest being filled to the brim with grimm, heh heh that rhymes, and that if we get caught in a situation we're not ready for, we will be left to die. But other than that, easy._ ' Roland reflected as he twirled Lightning around his right index finger. He lightly stepped onto the metal platform that would be catapulting him through the air.

"Are there any questions?" Ozpin asked as all the students stepped onto their platforms.

"Just one Professor." Roland called out from his spot.

"Excellent prepare to launch." Ozpin said without acknowledging Roland as the first student, a pretty girl in brown and black with a large handbag, bullets worked into the strap like a bandolier, was fired into the air.

Roland was undeterred, "What exactly do you tell our families if we die out there?" Ozpin and Goodwitch stared at Roland as the initiates further down the line were starting to be launched.

Ozpin sipped some coffee from his cup before replying with the straightest face possible. "We tell them that we're sorry their child couldn't hack it but at least their final act was to provide a decent meal for the grimm. Traitor."

"That is simply fantastic." Roland laughed at the answer as the student next him, some guy named Fox Alistair, whom Roland currently owed twenty lien, was launched through the air. "Should the worst happen, could you tell my Pa that I gave the sumbitch that ate me horrible indigestion and diarrhea? It would really make that bastard's day." Ozpin seemed to consider it as Roland was launched, still twirling Lightning around his finger.

* * *

Yuri watched impassively as he rapidly descended for the treeline. He knew he would most likely be the first to land. How could he not be, he was significantly heavier than anyone else in his initiation group. Gravity may have made no exceptions to the speed of falling objects based on weight, but it most certainly did when it came to objects rising into the air. As the treeline grew ever closer, Yuri braced himself for the impact.

The first tree he slammed through did little to slow him down. Nor did the second or third. By the time he had finally reached the ground another three trees had been felled by his meteoric entrance. After sliding to a stop, Yuri turned around to see the trail of destruction his entrance to the Emerald Forest had caused. The tops of two trees had been mulched. Another two blasted in half, and the final two were completely toppled. With a shrug Yuri turned north and began to think about his potential partners.

Yatsuhashi Daichi was able to match him in strength, and carried a sword that was almost as long as he was tall. While Yuri respected him for that, he doubted they would make an effective team. Two slow moving, heavy hitters would be more of a hindrance than a blessing against fast opponents. He needed someone quick and agile to offset his stationary style.

Roland may have been a bit mouthy last night, but Yuri couldn't detect any malice coming from him. The way he casually twirled his pistols, even as he was catapulted through the air, proved he was at least comfortable with his weapons. That being said, he couldn't help but notice how the gunslinger's eyes never stayed focused on any one thing. Almost as if he were expected some hidden threat to attack him at any moment.

Then there was Teresa. Judging by the whip he had seen her uncoiling before she was launched. Not to mention her little demonstration of her semblance to Roland she had given last night. It all indicated that her fighting style was unique and unorthodox. Add to that the fact that she was already searching for potential allies as early as yesterday.

' _Out of everyone so far, she'd likely make the best partner_.' Yuri decided as he shouldered his way through low hanging branches. ' _With any luck, I'll find her down here before long.'_

"I know you are out there." The giant turned to his left and faced a large group of bushes. His hands balled into fists as large, bestial shadows raced from tree to tree. "The stench of bloodlust gave all of you away. Come on out and let us get this over with." While he spoke, glowing red eyes appeared all around him. Soon a pack of four beowolves emerged from the shadows. The beasts growled hungrily at Yuri. His only response was an impassive roll of his shoulders and a crack of his neck.

The largest of the beowolves howled, signaling the entire pack to attack. When they were in range, Yuri lashed out with his fist ,and with a single punch, crushed the skull of the first grimm. The beast flew back and dropped like a puppet with its strings cut, while the remaining three all lunged for Yuri.

Their attack was stopped short, however, as the three of them ran headlong into the barrier Yuri's aura produced. The huntsman in training surged forward while the beasts were stunned, his hand wrapping around the grimm's throat. The beowolf thrashed in his grip before Yuri slammed it onto the ground. The beast screeched once before Yuri's fist smashed through its skull like mask. After that the forest was silent as the grave.

The remaining two, having seen two of their pack fall so easily by his hand circled him. The monsters snarled, trying to decide if they were going to attack again or flee. Or at least that's what a normal animal would do. Yuri knew better than to mistake these beasts for normal animals. They would attack again, and they would meet the same fate as their pack mates. Yuri readied himself for the attack.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Three shots found their mark in the chest and head of the smaller of the two beowolves, dropping it instantly. Both Yuri and the remaining grimm turned to see Roland emerge from the bushes, his two pistols twirling around his fingers. Upon seeing this Yuri couldn't help but wonder if he had been spinning his guns without stopping since they launched.

"Howdy there Big Guy." Roland greeted, "Hope you don't mind, but I can't let you have all the fun right?"

Yuri relaxed himself and stepped to side, confident that the remaining beowolf's attention was now firmly on the newcomer. "By all means."

"Much obliged my friend, much obliged." Roland replied whilst holstering his pistols at his hips. "And as for you fugly, let's see if you can reach me before I count to ten."

The beowolf howled before it charged Roland who immediately drew one of his pistol and shot it twice, once through each eye. The beast jerked before falling over and sliding to a stop at Roland's feet.

"Ten."

* * *

Teresa breathed heavily as she carefully coiled her whip around her arm. Across from her, her newly found teammate was reloading his large triple barreled shotgun while resting against the slowly dissolving carcass of one of the grimm the two of them had slain. Teresa admired how her teammate handled himself during the encounter.

When she had come across him two ursae had been harassing him, trying to crush him with their massive claws, but he stayed light on his feet and expertly ducked around their clumsy attacks. Not once did either of the grimm touch him. When she had started helping him, he was quick in adapting to her fighting style. Within moments he was using her portals to dodge attacks and set up his counters.

 _'Yuri was right_.' she thought as she remembered his assessment from the day before, ' _He'll make an excellent teammate_.'

"Well that was fun." he commented as he pushed himself off of the Ursa's disappearing body and retrieved his sword. With a practiced hand he wiped the grimm's blood off his silver blade with the red cloth tied to his belt, careful to use the side that didn't bear his emblem. Once his blade was cleaned, the strawberry blonde looked at her with warm smile on his face, "Vincent Helsing, nice to meet you."

"Teresa Belmonte. But please, call me Terri." Teresa returned his smile as his last name registered "Helsing? By any chance are you related to…"

"I'd rather avoid dredging up my family history right now." Vincent cut her off with an apologetic look, "Time and a place, you know?"

"Of course, my apologies." Teresa replied with a nod. She was curious why her new partner was so quick to cut her off, but he was right. The middle of a grimm infested forest probably wasn't the best place to discuss family histories. "So which way are we heading?" Vincent took a moment to examine their surroundings before pulling a small object from a pocket on his vest.

"Ozpin said that the temple was located in the northern part of the forest." he recalled as Teresa walked up behind him and saw he was holding a compass. "Which according to this, is that way." Vincent continued, pointing to the right of their current position.

"But that's east." Teresa pointed out, "The sun's still rising in that direction."

"Right, which means it's not 'true' north but 'magnetic' north." Vincent agreed as Teresa started to walk off in the direction that the compass pointed. "There's a fair chance that the temple might have some magnetic properties to it. Or it could be a decoy to throw people off."

"Come on, what're you waiting for?" Teresa called over her shoulder, "A written invitation?"

As she continued on she heard Vincent chuckle, "Heh, yes ma'am."

' _Smart, good in a fight, open to taking orders. I think we'll get along just fine._ ' she thought as he joined her.

* * *

"You sure we're going in the right direction Yuri." Roland asked while once again twirling a pistol around his finger. This time it was Thunder being spun on his left hand.

"I'm sure." was Yuri's short reply as the giant led them through the forest.

"You don't talk a lot do you?"

"Not when I'm deep in a grimm infested forest."

"Right, cause the measly little grimm in this forest totally pose a threat to great hulking bear faunus like you." Roland had to smirk at the look on Yuri's face when the giant turned to face him.

"How'd you know?" he asked, kneeling down to be eye level with Roland.

"You've got some rather pronounced canines, Yuri." the gunslinger said while reaching out to inspect Yuri's teeth. "Also I saw your little, fluffy, tail last night. Just barely poking out the top of your pants." Yuri looked more annoyed at the horrible pun Roland just made than at his exposure. "So I guess a better question would be, why were you trying to hide the fact that you're a faunus in the first place? Afraid the people won't accept you otherwise?"

Yuri just sighed and shook his head, "I wasn't trying to hide it." he replied rising to his full height again. "The tail's just more comfortable tucked down than propped up."

Roland shrugged, "Fair enough partner." He gestured for Yuri to continue with his right hand.

"May I ask you something?" Yuri started.

"Shoot."

"What's with the spinning gun?"

"Just something I do when I'm bored." Roland replied, while holstering Thunder and drawing Lightning to spin.

"You've been doing it ever since you've shot that Beowolves." Yuri pointed out.

"And I've been bored ever since then." Roland moaned in complaint, "God damn we need to find something to shoot already."

"You may be about to get your wish." Yuri stated as he turned around, hands clenched into fists. When Roland to see whatever it was that his partner noticed, a wide smile appeared on his face.

"That'll work."

Not twenty feet away a beringel was staring them down, challenging one of them to make a move. Roland was all too happy to oblige, drawing Thunder and firing his two pistols one after the other, starting with Lightning.

Six shots flew at the grimm's face and would've hit their marks had the beast not protected itself with its forearm. The bullets bounced harmlessly of the gorilla's thick hide as the creature roared and charged them. Roland stood his ground, firing shot after shot at the monster's knees. They had little effect on the charging beast as it closed the distance and cocked its fist. Ready to punch Roland into orbit.

Before the beringel could make contact with him however, Yuri shoved Roland out of the way and took the blow himself. Roland laid there, amazed, as the ground behind Yuri cracked and the faunus only slid back a few feet. Kicking up to his feet, Roland holstered Lightning and moved beside his teammate.

"I think we might need some help with this one." he told Yuri, who simply nodded in agreement. The giant faunus turned to run as Roland hopped on his back, hooking his right arm loosely around his neck. Yuri started running in the direction he hoped the temple was while Roland fired Thunder at the pursuing beringel the whole way.

* * *

Velvet panted heavily as she sprinted through the forest, a herd of boarbatusks in hot pursuit. Her lungs felt like they were on fire as she missed a step and stumbled to the ground. Behind her the lead boarbatusk rolled its body up before charging for her. It would've gotten her, too, if an orange blur hadn't burst from the underbrush and intercepted the beast. Velvet turned to see a dark skinned, orange haired young man wearing a dark orange sleeveless shirt, black pants, and bracelets with long blades reaching along the outside of his arms, fighting through the pack of grimm.

Acting quickly Velvet shifted her box into its camera mode and snapped a picture of the young man fighting, before stowing her camera and activating her semblance. Hard light copies of the young man's weapon formed around her wrists as she leapt into the fray, slicing into a boarbatusk trying to flank her rescuer. The young man cut open the grimm he'd been wrestling with and stood next to her and they struck identical stances.

"Thank you." she breathed, still trying to catch her breath. Her rescuer merely nodded in response.

Fighting a very large group of boarbatusks by herself may have been too much for her, but with a teammate by her side, Velvet felt they could manage.

She was wrong.

* * *

 _A/N: Well there's chapter 2. Our heroes all have their teammates and we've met two members of Team CFVY, on a side does anyone know if Fox is a mute or just doesn't like talking? Anyway, I've given out some hints for Vincent's, Roland's, and Yuri's semblances. Anyone have some guesses? As always thank you for reading and for any reviews._


	3. Team VTRY

"Think that's the place?" Vincent asked Teresa as they approached what they could only assume to be the abandoned temple.

"Must be." Teresa responded, "We haven't seen any other man made structures in this forest." Said structure was a number of stone pillars arranged in a semicircle around a stone platform in the middle of a large clearing. As the two teammates approached the temple, two other initiates were just exiting the temple.

"Well looks like we aren't the first ones here." Vincent commented as the other two came closer. One was a large boy with lightly tanned skin, wearing a green robe with some armor over his left arm and brown pants. A sword that was larger than Vincent was strapped to his back.

The girl next to him was about a foot shorter, but walked with an easy confidence. It was clear to Vincent by how she walked at the front, that in their team the big guy deferred to her. She wore a black and brown long sleeved shirt, a dark brown scarf and beret, aviator sunglasses and black pants. An old shield was strapped to her back, and in her hand was a large purse with a strap that seemed to double as a bandolier. Vincent could only assume that she kept her weapon inside the purse.

'Although why she wouldn't just leave the purse and carry the weapon into a combat zone is just beyond me. Women.'

"Hey Coco." Teresa called out as she moved ahead of Vincent to meet them. "How's your day been?"

The girl, Coco, smiled, "Smooth sailing since we landed. Right Yatsuhashi?"

"We haven't seen a single grimm the whole time we've been here." Yatsuhashi replied, "How have you two fared?"

"Ran into some ursae on the way here, but nothing we couldn't handle." Vincent stated before introducing himself.

"Yatsuhashi Daichi. Honored to meet you." Yatsuhashi said shaking his hand.

"I'm Coco Adel," the girl said while lowering her shades to get a better look, "Love your outfit. Burgundy is definitely your color."

"Thanks" Vincent said while glancing down at his vest. "So did you guys get your relic?"

"Yep." Coco turned to give them a better look at the shield on her back. "You guys should go grab yours. We can head back together."

"You sure?" Teresa asked, "We don't want to hold you up."

"There is safety in numbers." Yatsuhashi replied.

"We'll be right back then." Vincent said as they entered the temple. Around them were several old, rusted weapons, and bits of armor on pedestals.

"So how do you know Coco?" Vincent asked as he and Teresa started looking at the various weapons.

"We just met last night. This guy named Yuri and I were looking for potential partners. Turns out she's from Atlas like me and we kinda hit it off. Then Yuri and Yatsuhashi got into a big arm wrestling match." Teresa replied as they came to stop at an old sword. "How about this one?" Teresa asked, lifting the blade up with both hands. Vincent examined the blade closely, before the weapon on the pedestal next to it caught his eye. A worn, splintery crossbow with a broken string. Gingerly he picked it up and braced it against his shoulder like he was aiming it. He smiled as he looked to Teresa who raised an eyebrow at his choice.

"Crossbows are to Helsings, what whips are to Belmontes." he explained as he looped the strap over his shoulder. Teresa chuckled as she replaced the rusted blade. Her hand drifted to the whip on her belt and affectionately patted the handle of Nebula.

"So where's yours then?" she asked as they turned to leave the temple. "You the odd one out?"

"Heh, you sound like my mother." Vincent laughed, "She and my sister damn near shot me with theirs when I showed off Flare for the first time."

* * *

"When I said I wanted to shoot something, I was hoping for something that wasn't flipping bulletproof!" Roland shouted as he held tightly to Yuri while the faunus bulldozed his way through the forest. Despite Roland's shots causing minimal damage to the pursuing beringel. The gunslinger kept firing at the beast, pausing only to either reload or switch guns. It was during one of his reloads that Roland noticed that Yuri seemed to be slowing down.

"Whoa, whoa there buddy. Please tell me you're not getting tired." Roland pleaded as he looked back to see the beringel was closing the gap.

"No... there's a group... up ahead." Yuri panted, "We will fight the beast together."

"Right, well first we gotta get there." Roland muttered as he turned to fire at the grimm once more.

* * *

Outside the temple, Coco and Yatsuhashi waited for Vincent and Teresa to pick their relic. After a few minutes the two of them emerged from the temple, a splintery, old, crossbow hanging at Vincent's side.

"You picked that old thing?" Coco asked, tilting her sunglasses to examine it.

Vincent glanced at the old stick flinger before he shrugged, "Sentimental reasons." Coco shrugged as she pushed her glasses back up and hefted her bag. She walked over to Teresa. The Belmonte was staring at some trees off in the distance.

"Something up Terri?" she asked.

"Do you hear something?" Teresa asked, tilting her head to the side slightly. Coco strained her ears trying to pick up whatever Teresa was hearing.

bang. Bang. BAng! BANg! BANG!

"Something's coming!" Coco shouted to the two boys, who were by their sides immediately. Yatsuhashi and Vincent had both drawn their swords. Teresa had uncoiled her whip, and Coco rested her hand on her bag. The four of them turned to the direction the gunshots were coming from. Before long someone emerged from the forest, running straight towards them.

"That's Yuri." Teresa stated, just as a large gorilla like grimm burst from the trees behind them.

"That's a beringel." Vincent stated as his other hand seized the handle of his triple barreled shotgun. The four of them were about to go to Yuri's aid when a low rumble diverted their attention in the opposite direction. Confused the four of them turned to see a rabbit faunus dressed in brown sprint from the forest. A dark skinned boy in orange was close behind her.

"Velvet?" Coco wondered, remembering the shy rabbit faunus she'd met yesterday. A few seconds after them came an entire horde of grimm.

"That's a lot of grimm." Yatsuhashi commented. Coco whistled as she recognized boarbatusks, beowolves, ursae, and nevermores in the horde.

"So which would you prefer?" Vincent asked her. Coco turned to Vincent as he gestured to the large beringel. The beast was currently trying its damndest to crush Yuri and his teammate. "Size or quantity?" He then pointed at the horde of grimm still chasing the other two students.

Coco patted her bag and smiled, "Yatsuhashi and I can handle the group. You and Terri go help her friend."

Vincent chuckled, "Sure you can take that many with that purse of yours?"

Coco's initial response was to simply smile as her bag unfolded itself into a massive minigun. Upon seeing Vincent's jaw drop open, she laughed, "I'm pretty sure I can handle it." she said with a wink.

Confidently, Coco and Yatsuhashi approached the oncoming horde. Velvet and her teammate rushed past. Now that they were safely out of the way Coco pulled the trigger of her weapon. A storm of bullets was unleashed, ripping through several of the pursuing grimm. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Yatsuhashi cleave through several grimm to her left. On her right she saw Velvet's teammate turn to fight off the beasts that tried to attack her from that direction. She wondered where Velvet was when the faunus walked up next to her. Coco raised an eyebrow when she saw a hardlight copy of her own minigun firing into the horde as well. With Coco and Velvet mowing down the grimm in the center. Yatsuhashi guarding their left, and Velvet's teammate their right. Coco was sure they'd finish in no time.

* * *

Yuri grunted as he barely held back the beringel's punch. Before the grimm could pull its fist back Yuri latched onto its wrist and dug his feet into the ground. As he did so, Roland slid underneath Yuri's legs and fired his pistols right at the grimm's face.

The shots seemed to actually hurt the beast. Actually causing it to flinch from the impacts instead of flat out ignoring them. Yuri felt the beringel's muscles tighten in his grip. The faunus braced himself, trusting his aura to keep him rooted as the beringel tried to pull away from him.

Once he felt the tug on the grimm's arm, Yuri simply let go and the beast stumbled backwards. The beringel recovered faster than Yuri had anticipated however. With a savage roar the beast attacked with a savage punch.

Yuri threw up his arms to defend himself against a blow that never landed. Right before the beringel's punch made contact, a portal opened up between them. The beringel fell right through the portal with surprised yowl . The grimm appeared and instant later, behind Yuri, its' fist deep in the ground.

Another portal opened up above the gorilla monster and a figure in red and burgundy dropped out of it. The stranger landed on the beast's shoulder and shot it right in the head with a triple barreled shotgun.

The grimm roared in anger as its head jerked away from the impact. Other than some superficial surface damage, it seemed that anger was the only result the blast had.

"How are you doing Yuri?" Yuri turned to see Teresa standing right next to him, her whip uncoiled at her feet. She looked up and smiled at him.

Yuri smiled back, "A little tired from carrying him across the forest." he said gesturing to Roland as he came up beside them. The three of them watched as the boy in red leapt off the beringel to avoid being crushed against its' shoulder.

"Looking good, Vincent." Roland said as he landed in front of them.

"That's a tough monkey." Vincent breathed as he reloaded his shotgun. The beringel turned to glare at them, seeming to weigh its options for attack.

"Technically, it's an ape." Teresa pointed out.

"Monkey, ape, who cares? Anyone have any ideas for taking the damned thing out?" Roland asked as the beringel started to circle around them.

"I have the beginnings of one." Vincent replied, "Roland, you and I will distract the beringel. Make sure you keep light on your feet so that thing can't crush you. Terri, use your portals to make sure we don't get hit in case we slip up. Yuri, was it? You're the strongest out of us. When you see an opportunity, I want you to hit that thing as hard as you can."

"You came up with that plan awfully fast." Yuri commented as the beringel got tired of waiting and charged forward. Vincent smiled as he started moving forward with Roland.

"Sometimes you have to slow it down a bit."

* * *

Velvet sighed with relief as she and Coco mowed down the last group of grimm. Between the four of them, they had made rather quick work of the horde. As one, they turned to see Vincent's group facing off against a large gorilla like grimm. Vincent and a boy dressed like a cowboy were dancing around the beringel. Vincent slashed at the grimm's tough hide, while the cowboy fired his pistols. Neither of them seemed to be doing any damage to the grimm, but they were keeping it occupied.

That was when the largest person Velvet had ever seen slammed into the beringel. To her surprise the beast was knocked off balance. The beringel turned to counter attack the large man as a portal opened up above it. The cowboy dropped through the portal, onto its shoulders.

Before he could fire at its head however it reached up and grabbed the cowboy. It threw the gunslinger at a tree but before he slammed into it a portal opened up ahead of him. The cowboy simply flew through the portal. He skid across the ground for a few meters until he rolled to his feet and rejoined the action.

"We should help them out." Velvet said as she created a hard light copy of Yatsuashi's sword. She was about to join the fray when Coco placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Something tells me they can handle this themselves." Coco said with a smile. "Besides look at them. They're having fun."

Velvet turned to look again and sure enough a wide grin was plastered on each of their faces. Smiling herself Velvet let the hard light weapon fade. Seeing the opportunity in front of her, she took out her camera and started snapping pictures.

* * *

Vincent leapt away from the beringel's grasping hand and slashed at it with Daylight. Again, the blade failed to pierce the Beringel's thick skin. Yuri tackled the grimm before it could press on. The plan wasn't working. He and Roland were doing a fine job distracting it, and Yuri was actually hurting the beast. But none of them were doing enough damage to actually put the beast down. None of them could build enough force to break the damn thing's skin.

' _Force. That's it!_ '

"Yuri!" he called out, "I need you to hold it in place!" Yuri grunted in response as he locked arms with the beringel. A faint gray aura glowed around Yuri as the grimm tried to overpower him. Surprisingly the beringel was unable to move him.

"Roland take out its knees!" Vincent called, tossing Flare over to him. Roland caught the shotgun and nodded. Rushing behind the beringel, Roland fired Flare at the backs of the beasts knees. The beast's hide was weaker there. The beast roared in pain as it fell onto its back.

"Terri, drop me off as high as you can above it."

"You sure?" the girl asked, a raised eyebrow speaking volumes to her doubt of this particular plan.

"Yeah." Vincent said. "It should be no worse than the drop we took to get here."

Teresa nodded as she opened two portals. At the same time, Vincent heard her mumble how there wasn't an angry bergingel waiting for them at the bottom of that drop. One appeared a hundred feet above the downed beringel. The other opened right below Vincent. Vincent let his semblance take hold as he fell through, slowing his perception of time to a crawl.

With the increase in reaction time, he calculated the angle he would need to survive this crazy stunt of his. He only had to slightly alter his angle of descent. Vincent stabbed Daylight down as he got closer to the beringel on the ground.

This time the point of his blade pierced the beast's chest with relative ease. After all, force was mass times acceleration.

The blade buried itself halfway up its length in the grimm's body. Vincent landed on the beast's body, his aura absorbing most of the impact. With a groan, Vincent rolled off the beringel. His legs were about to give out when he felt one of the others sling his arm across their shoulders.

"I got ya boss." Roland laughed, adjusting his grip on Vincent's arm.

"Remind me... to never... do that again." Vincent breathed as the others all ran over.

* * *

Teresa stood proud and at attention as she and her teammates waited for Ozpin to call them up to the stage. To her left stood Roland and Yuri, to her right Vincent with a bandage wrapped around his ankle. Up on the stage Professors Ozpin and Goodwitch were announcing the new teams.

"Coco Adel, Velvet Scarlatina, Yatsuhashi Daichi, and Fox Alistair." Ozpin announced as the students in question climbed the steps. "For collecting the sword and shield you are now, Team CFVY, led by Coco Adel. I wish you the best during your time here." The newly minted Team CFVY stepped down from the stage as Teresa and her team started up the steps. Teresa couldn't help but smile at Roland's response when asked why he chose crossbow bolts.

 _"How could I say no to the world's first bullets?" Roland said with a toothy grin._

"And finally, Vincent Helsing, Teresa Belmonte, Roland Harker, and Yuri Hawthorne. For collecting the crossbow and bolts you are now, Team VTRY, led by Vincent Helsing."

Teresa expected to be upset over not being the leader of the team. She found it rather strange that she seemed at peace with Vincent's appointment. She watched as Roland shook her leader by his shoulder. At the same time, Yuri clapped his colossal hand across his back, almost knocking the poor guy on his face. She followed as he, with his head held high, limped off the podium and stood by Team CFVY. She smiled as she remembered him taking command during the battle with the beringel. His quick assessment of the strengths of his team before assigning them their roles. How he'd worked out how to defeat the beringel and opted to do it himself, in spite of the danger.

As it turned out Yuri was wrong. Vincent wouldn't make an excellent teammate. He'd make an excellent leader.

* * *

 _A/N: Well there we have it. Teams CFVY and VTRY are officially formed... Next come their greatest challenge yet, classes! Hoped you all enjoyed and as always reviews are welcome. Thank you for your time._


	4. The First Class

"Alright guys. I do believe this is our dorm." Roland stated, matching the number on his key to the number on the door. With a smile Roland turned to his three teammates, all of them dressed in Beacon's school uniform. "So Teresa, let's get you to your dorm."

"What are you talking about?" Teresa asked. "This is my dorm too."

"Wait, wait, hold up." Roland said, looking back and forth between his teammates. "Are you guys telling me that the dorms are co-ed?" Upon seeing Vincent's confirming nod, a large smile broke upon Roland's face.

"Roland, I swear to God, if you try any funny business I will wrap Nebula around your neck and strangle you." Teresa growled.

Roland raised an eyebrow and was just about to respond when Vincent stepped between them. "Hey, how about we see what our new home looks like?"

"You're the boss." Roland shrugged as he passed his leader the key. A few seconds later the door was open and Team VTRY was inside their dorm room for the first time. The room was bare, with four beds and dressers lined up by the western wall and four bookshelves and desks by the eastern.

"Alright team, our first class is Grimm Studies with… Professor Port at nine. So that gives us two hours to at least start setting up our room." Vincent stated while looking over their class schedule.

"Ugh, why did you have to bring up classes?" Roland groaned while reaching for Lightning to spin around his finger.

"Weren't you supposed to store your weapons in the lockers?" Yuri asked, prompting a Roland to place a finger on his lips while making a shushing sound.

An hour and a half later, the beds, dressers, and bookshelves had been moved into the four corners and the desks consolidated in the center. Maps of the four kingdoms, Menagerie, and Remnant as a whole adorned the walls, along with some Vacuan western movie posters. At Teresa's insistence, a curtain had been draped around her bed and dresser. Roland spent the better part of ten minutes protesting it, claiming it would segregate and divide their team.

His 'impassioned' speech was met with a laugh from Vincent, an eyeroll from Yuri, and a punch in the gut from Teresa.

"Was… worth… a shot." Roland coughed out as he straightened himself.

"Come on buddy." Vincent comforted as he patted him on the back. "We got a class to get to."

* * *

Teresa always tried her best. As a Belmonte of Atlas, she was expected to always give it her all, and damn it she had. But as it turns out, sometimes her best just isn't enough. So it made sense for her to feel a little shame for falling asleep approximately ten minutes into Professor Port's unbelievably boring story about the time he hunted down a beowolf for his village when he was still a child. She had only woken up because Port had, rather dramatically, loudly asked the entire classroom if anyone felt they had what it took to be a true huntsmen… or huntresses.

Not wanting to get into trouble for napping in class Teresa's hand immediately shot up. Port was pleased at her eagerness and quickly input a six digit code into his scroll. Now that Teresa had a moment, she opted to reexamine the classroom. Roland didn't seem to be paying any attention whatsoever, focusing more trying to spin his pen around his fingers like his pistols. Yuri was just flat out gone. Teresa had to wonder if Professor Port even noticed. Vincent was hunched over his desk, leading her to believe that he too had fallen asleep, until he sat up to read over the full page of notes he had written.

' _I'm going to have to borrow those.'_ she thought when she finally noticed a rather large, growling, and shaking metal cage at the front of the classroom. It took only minute to figure out what was inside. A grimm.

"Now then if you'll please prepare yourself for battle, Miss Belmonte, you can show the entire class how a true huntress fights." Professor Port said as a locker emerged from the floor. She recognized the lockers' number as her own. Teresa stepped down to the locker and opened it up, revealing her normal fighting clothes and Nebula, before Port indicated a door at the side of the class. "You can change in there."

A few minutes later Teresa stood at the front of the class, dressed in her huntress gear, Nebula held lightly in her hand. Across from her was the large, growling cage and Professor Port, who'd removed his blunderbuss axe from its spot on the wall. Teresa had to wonder if that meant he'd intervene if things got too dicey for her… or in case she failed.

"Are you ready Miss Belmonte?" Professor Port asked as he grabbed hold of the bolt holding the cage shut. Teresa nodded as she let Nebula uncoil at her feet. "Then face your enemy!"

With that Port threw the cage open, releasing the ursa that was contained inside. The beast lumbered out of the cage, a low growl rumbling in its belly as it glanced at the students at their desks. Desperate to keep the grimm's attention off of the students who didn't have their weapons on them, Teresa lashed Nebula forward, striking the beast on the side of its head. The grimm roared in anger and its attention now fully focused on Teresa. The young huntress smiled as the ursa charged. Before the monster reached her, Teresa opened a portal directly underneath her. The Ursa slid to a confused stop as its prey dropped into the floor. Its confusion was only compounded when Teresa emerged from the portal she made directly over it and she landed lightly on its back.

Before the ursa could stand on its hind legs, she wrapped the cord of the whip around the ursa's neck and pressed the button on the handle. At the press of the button dozens of one inch blades unfolded along the length of the whip, cutting into the ursa's thick neck. With a sharp pull Teresa tightened the whips wrap around the ursa's neck and the blades cut deeper. Black smoke leaked from the neck wounds as the grimm fought to release itself. Teresa, wasting no time planted the pommel of her whip against the ursa's skull, just behind its skull-like mask, and squeezed Nebula's handle.

A loud bang echoed through the classroom as the hidden gun in Nebula's handle discharged a bullet directly into the brain pan of the ursa. The grimm jerked once before it dropped to its stomach. Dead.

"Well done Miss Belmonte." Professor Port praised as Teresa hopped off the ursa's back. "You definitely show the makings of a true huntress. Now class that will be all for today. For the next class I want everyone to share their first time slaying a grimm. Good day everyone."

Teresa was joined by her two teammates as everyone was exiting the room and by Yuri a little further down the hall.

"What did I miss?" the large faunus asked as he fell into step next to Roland.

"You missed it partner," Roland started, placing a hand on Teresa's shoulder. "Our lovely Teresa here just killed an ursa in roughly ten seconds or so."

"Eight seconds." Vincent corrected, a smile on his face. "Great work in there Terri."

"Thanks Vincent." Teresa replied, happy with her performance and the praise of her teammates. Then she blushed as she prepared to swallow her pride. "Can I borrow your notes for that class?"

* * *

"You've got to be kidding me?" Roland's outburst echoed across the cafeteria, causing several eyes to be drawn to the gunslinger.

"Are the notes not good enough?" Vincent asked, genuinely concerned that he might've failed his teammate with poor note taking. He'd used his semblance to make sure that he could copy down every word Professor Port had spoken. Teresa and Yuri seemed to be making good use of them, so he wondered what Roland found wrong with them.

"All I heard while the man was talking was blah blah blah." Roland complained. "A straight hour and a half of nothing but that. Now I'm looking at what looks like half a notebooks worth of the same thing. Blah blah blah."

Vincent couldn't help but smile at Roland's apparent perception of his notes. "Well while you guys go over those, I'm gonna go grab a bite." His teammates waved him off as he left their table for the lunch line. Along the way a pair of brown bunny ears caught his attention. "Hey Velvet." he called out, getting the owner of the ears attention.

"Oh, hey Vincent." Velvet turned to him, a shy smile on her lips.

"You here for food too?" Vincent asked as she joined him.

"Caffeine run." she replied, holding up the cardboard cup holder with four drinks in it. "Caramel frappuccino for Coco, jasmine tea for Yatsu, and straight black coffee for Fox."

Vincent nodded before he realized that she left herself out, "And what are you drinking?"

Velvet's face turned almost as red as Vincent's huntsman shirt as he heard her mumble just loud enough to barely hear, "Carrot juice."

"I suppose I shouldn't be surprised." Vincent said while fighting back his laughter.

"Hey! Stop yanking on my tail!"

The cry of protest cut off whatever Velvet was going to say. The two of them turned to see a mouse faunus boy being harassed by a group of four humans, three girls and a boy. He recognized them from the initiation ceremony as Penny, Richard, Delilah, and Edith of Team PRDE. Looking back at his table, Vincent saw all three of his teammates start to rise to their feet. Vincent made eye contact with all of them and motioned for them to sit back down. Yuri looked doubtful but Teresa must've said something that convinced him.

"You should get back to your team." he told Velvet, who was staring at the four bullies with a mixture of fear and hate.

"What are you going to do?" she asked, voice trembling slightly.

"What a Helsing always does." Vincent stated as he started for the confrontation. "Stand up for the little guy." A few long strides was all it took for Vincent to close the distance to PRDE and their victim. "There a problem over here?"

Team PRDE all turned to face him, Richard still hanging the faunus a few feet off the ground by his tail. The four of them had a rather sadistic gleam in their eyes.

"No problem here." Penny started, speaking collectively for her team. "Just having some fun with rat boy here."

"He doesn't seem to be having any fun." Vincent stated, crossing his arms over his chest. "Now how about you put him down before things get ugly."

"You think you can take the four of us on by yourself." Delilah sneered.

Vincent shrugged, "Don't have to." Then he pointed at his team, all of whom were glaring at Team PRDE with murder in their eyes. "The big guy, Yuri Hawthorne, is a bear faunus and strong enough to fight a beringel… bare handed." Vincent followed his statement by pointing at the table Team CFVY was sitting at. They too were staring daggers at the bullies. "Pretty sure they'll gladly jump in to pound you into next week as well."

Penny scowled at Vincent before nodding at Richard, who unceremoniously dropped the faunus on the ground. As they skulked off, Vincent called after them.

"By the way, he's a mouse. The tail's too thin for a rat. Being a bully is no excuse for being stupid." Vincent waited until Team PRDE left the cafeteria before he turned to help the faunus to his feet. "You alright?"

"Yeah, thanks for that." The faunus said, "I'm Gregory Finch."

Vincent introduced himself as well, waiting for the inevitable surprised stare he always got from faunuses. To his surprise, Gregory smiled, showing two buck teeth.

"Father always said the Helsings were good people. Glad to see he was right." With that Gregory thanked Vincent again before he left, presumably to find his team. Smiling Vincent turned back to the lunch line, receiving a few pats on the back for his act of kindness. Once he received his lunch, a turkey and ham sandwich, he made his way back to his team and sat down.

"Good going out there boss." Roland said as he too patted Vincent on his back. Both Teresa and Yuri also praised his defense of Gregory. "Hey boss, someone left a note on your back." Vincent turned to Roland who was unfolding a sheet of paper. Once it was completely unfolded Roland read it outloud.

 _Greetings members of Team VTRY. I'm writing this little message to inform you of your imminent demise… by which I mean I'm going to prank the ever loving crap out of you guys. You may be asking why I've chosen you guys specifically. Well you can blame your leader for that. His brave little stunt has planted all of you firmly within my cross hairs. Until then ta ta._

 _With love Asagi Yamabuki._

The four members of Team VTRY reread the note three times before Yuri finally said what the rest were thinking. "Who the hell is Asagi Yamabuki?"

* * *

William had to physically stop himself from bursting into hysterical laughter when he saw the room that his potential new employers had decided to conduct their interview in. First off, the room was dark. Pitch black. So damn dark that William doubted that he'd be able to see his hand an inch from his face. Or at least that would've been the case, if he hadn't kept an eyepatch over his right eye for three straight days. After swapping sides, William could see almost as well as his faunus companions, who were trying oh so very hard to hide the fact that they were faunus. Well aside from his escort. No hiding rather pronounced tusks after all. Once he could see clearly, his impression of the room did not improve.

Three bare walls, one two-way mirror, a steel table with a seat at either end, and a small plastic flag that bore the symbol of the White Fang on it, all brought one word to William's mind.

' _Boring_.'

"Please make yourself comfortable Sir." his escort, a boar faunus judging by the tusks, insisted while pulling out the chair closest to the door.

"My such good manners you 'freedom fighters' have. Must really grind your gears having to refer to me so respectfully." William mocked as he stepped past the man and sat on the far seat. "So, when does your boss show up. Or does he expect me to do business with your sorry butt. Cause if that's the case you might as well escort me out of here."

To his credit, the faunus didn't seem flustered by the human's rudeness. "He'll be with you shortly. Would you care for a drink?"

"Some water if you'd be so kind." William requested, leaning back in his chair and propping his feet on the table. "Bottled please, the tap water in this city tastes like crap." The escort nodded before leaving him alone in the dark, boring, room.

 _'And now we play the waiting game._ ' William thought as he settled in.

William lost track of time not long after, so he wasn't too sure how long he'd been sitting there when the door opened again. His escort walked back in and placed a water bottle by his feet before he retreated to corner. The next person to walk through the door was a tall, pale skinned, man, dressed in all black, aside from some red fire patterns on his coat, a grimm mask. His red and brown hair was swept back, and two horns stuck from his head. In his hand was a katana with a sheath that looked like it was crossed with a rifle.

"You know I think I saw that same sword in a video game a few years back." William commented casually, "You a fan?" The bull faunus said nothing as he sat in the chair across from him and rested said sword against the table and scrutinized William. The frown on the man's face could've been from the mere fact that William was a human, which a faunus connected to the White Fang was guaranteed to despise, or from the fact that William had refused to clean himself up and decided to wear simple gray sweats to this oh so important business meeting.

William shrugged before reaching for the water bottle and draining the entire bottle in one gulp. Once the bottle was empty he chucked it at the escort in the corner. The two simply stared at each other in silence afterwards for what seemed like an eternity. Finally the faunus spoke.

"William Harker, born in Vale before your family moved to Vacuo at age ten. At age fourteen you got involved with several gangs without ever actually joining any of them, serving as a kind of equalizer amongst them. At age seventeen you graduated from equalizer to full blown contract killer. Over the next thirty years you've killed approximately sixty-eight people."

William nodded his head, "Well looks like someone knows how to do their research. But I fear I must correct you on one little detail. I haven't killed sixty-eight people over the last thirty years, I've been hired by sixty-eight people over the last thirty years. It's a subtle difference, I know, but the way you put it leaves out everyone I've killed when I'm not on the job. Rapists, pedophiles, wife beaters, the occasional husband beater, people who generally piss me off, but I digress. I know it hasn't been easy for you to find me, in fact you've been searching for me for about a year now. So I'll cut straight to the chase. Who do you want to die?"

* * *

 _A/N: And now I'm starting to introduce some family members starting with Roland's "very polite" father... I swear some of the things I have planned for this guy's backstory alone would make this story rated M. Anyway I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter. Feel free to leave any reviews or to ask any questions you may have about the story. I'll try to give the best non-spoiler answers I can._

 _P.S. Asagi Yamabuki is a character created by User Harukawa Ayame. If you have a character you would like to see appear in this story feel free to PM me._


	5. The Most Dangerous Man in the World

_AN: So this chapter will focus entirely on Roland's father William Harker. So warning, he is not a nice man. That being said I had a lot of fun writing this chapter. As always reviews are welcome and appreciated as are any questions you guys have about the story or characters. I promise two things, the next chapter will see us back at Beacon about where we left off. And this isn't the last we'll see of Mr. Harker. Enjoy._

 _Edit: When I originally wrote this chapter, I hadn't seen Volumes 4 or 5. So I thought that Adam was the leader of the White Fang. Having seen them now, I've edited the chapter a bit to mention Sienna._

* * *

"Who do you want to die?" William asked again, after the faunus across the table seeming to be ignoring him again. It wasn't long however before the Bull snapped his fingers, prompting the boar in the corner to step forward with a file in hand. William sniggered as his escort placed the file in front of him and quickly stepped away. "Easy Pumbaa, I don't bite." Again he seemed unwilling to rise to William's bait. Deciding to just roll with it, William turned his attention to the file placed before him. Emblazoned on the cover was a stylized snowflake.

"All the intel you'll need for the job is in there." the Bull explained as William flipped the file open. The first thing he saw was a photo of an older man in a white suit, pale skin, and a white mustache and hair.

"You want me to kill Jacques Schnee." William stated, not even bothering to look further into the folder.

"Not just him." the Bull corrected, "We also want you to kill his heirs."

William raised an eyebrow at the word choice the Bull used. Turning a page, William found that behind the intel on Mr. Schnee was a picture of a young woman, probably in her early twenties dressed in a customized Atlesian military uniform. Behind that was a younger girl, not even out of her teens, wearing a white dress. And further behind that picture and intel was an even younger child, dressed similarly to his father. William shook his head as he shut the folder and slid it across the table.

"I guess you guys didn't research me as well as I thought." William stated as he locked eyes with the Bull, seemingly through his mask. "I don't kill children."

"We're willing to pay you double your…" the Bull started before William cut him off.

"No children." he reaffirmed, "If I don't hold myself to certain standards, then I'm no better than an animal." The Bull's tightening fist wasn't lost on William.

"Fine." The Bull conceded before he slid the folder back, "But what about Jacques and his eldest, Winter? They aren't children."

William flipped back to the intel on the two Schnee's in question and seemed to mull it over. In truth he'd made his decision the instant he recognized the snowflake on the cover but no need to let them know that.

"No deal. Good bye." William said as he rose from his seat. The Bull said nothing but William could practically see his eyes narrow behind that mask.

"Why not?" the Bull finally asked as William was reaching for the door handle. "We know that these aren't easy targets, but you'll be fairly compensated. Two million lien for each of them."

William chuckled to himself as he turned to face the Bull down. The Bull had also risen from his seat, he sheathed sword held firmly in hand.

"Two reasons." William stated holding up two fingers. "Reason number one, If I go anywhere near Atlas, there is a furious, gorgeous woman there just waiting to put a bullet through my brain. But even ignoring that, I still wouldn't take this job for reason number two." William stepped closer to the Bull, "Mr. Schnee already pays me five times what you're offering, a year, to never accept a contract on him or his family. It's bad business to break a contract. Now goodbye."

Again, William turned to the door, this time as his hand reached for the handle, he felt something lower itself onto his shoulder. He turned his head slightly to find a red blade resting edge down on his shoulder.

"I can't allow you leave this place alive if you refuse our offer." The Bull stated. William rolled his eyes as he sighed and gently pushed the blade away from his shoulder before turning around. The Bull was pointing his red katana straight at his chest. "Now either accept the contract or die."

"I believe I mentioned earlier how it took you guys a year of searching before you were able to make contact with me right?" William reminded the Bull who simply nodded. "Why exactly do you think that was?" When the Bull gave no answer William sighed with exasperation and continued. "Because I spent that entire year, gathering as much intel as I could on you. Not you as in the White Fang. You specifically, Adam Taurus. Now I could prove this by spouting out how your father was killed by a gang of racist humans, but that hardly proves anything. I bet at least ninety percent of your associates share the same tragic backstory."

"So instead, how about I get a bit more personal. How about how you, at the age of about sixteen or so, get it into your head that the current leader of the White Fang just ain't cutting it. That you could do a much better job. Now most people with this ambition tend to try to turn the group against the leader, to varying degrees of success, but not you. No, not you. You decide that the best way to go about your rise to power was to get in good with the leader. For him to step down and name you leader. And how did you accomplish this Adam?"

The bull faunus was silent and still, save for a tightening grip on the hilt of his sword.

"You accomplish it by cozying up to the leader's, then, ten year old daughter. By taking her under your wing and through her building your reputation to her father." As William spoke he moved past Adam, who never stopped pointing his blade at the human, and pulled a rather large file from the hidden carrier inside his sweatshirt. He placed it on the table as he continued, "Now I'm sure you taught her all sorts of useful things like how to fight, harness her aura, etcetera, etcetera. But I'm also sure that's not all you taught her. Is it? Now I don't know how it works in Menagerie, I so rarely get contracts in that area, but where I'm from we have a word for people who do that." William shrugged, "I kill pedophiles free of charge you know."

"What's to stop me from gutting you right here and now?" Adam growled, his sword hand practically shaking with rage.

William shrugged once more, "Physically, nothing. However that file I just out on the table," he said patting the file he'd placed on the table. "contains all of the intel I gathered on you. I'll grant that there's not much in there with regards to the last year or so but there's enough make things, let's say difficult for you. If you kill me, or even imprison me, then my network of contacts will ensure that a copy of all of this intel makes it to Ghira Belladonna. As well as the woman who actually succeeded him, Sienna Khan. There are some things in there that I'm sure she'll find extremely interesting. They might not believe a word of it, true, but are you willing to take that chance?"

* * *

"Oh come on girl!" William yelled at the TV monitor, "You could've taken that guy down three moves ago!" On the screen Pyrrha Nikos, The Invincible Girl, was in the midst of a heated duel with some kid, that William couldn't bother identifying, in the finals of the Mistral Regional Tournament. Or at least Pyrrha was trying her hardest to make it look heated. The kid wasn't bad, how could he be when he made it to the finals, but it was obvious that he couldn't hold a candle to his opponent.

To be honest, William had no idea why the girl was holding back against the kid. It's not like pretending that the poor sap was actually giving her a challenge would help him out in the long run. It also wasn't to inflate her own sense of worth, girl seemed fairly down to earth about that. Besides finishing off an opponent instantly is a much better way to stroke one's ego. William came to the only reasonable conclusion left to him. She wanted to give the audience a good show. While he could understand such an act made for good television, in a real fight that would only get her killed.

Certain of the outcome, William turned the TV off and walked to the bathroom. Along the way he passed by the ashtray he kept in every room to make sure it contained a burning cigarette. Once he was in the bathroom he started a shower. After he set the water to lukewarm he stripped his clothes off and stepped inside. He let the water run down his body for a few moments before a song came to his lips.

 _Oh no. Oh no. Oh no._

 _Oh no you didn't!_

 _Sucka tried to play me_

 _Then he never paid me, never._

 _Oh no you didn't!_

 _Payback is a comin_

 _You will be a runnin, forever._

 _Oh no you did!_

 _Til I get my vengeance_

 _I will never end this mayhem_

 _Oh no you didn't!_

 _I'm a mercenary_

 _You ain't got a prayer, you owe meeee!_

Just as William was about to start the chorus to the song however, the power cut off. The hitman scoffed as he got out of the shower and quickly dried himself with a towel. Once he was fully dried, he reached for the cigarette burning in the ashtray and took a long drag off it before placing it back. He exhaled the cloud of smoke and stepped through it before he left the bathroom to entertain his guests.

* * *

Milo, a cat faunus with an outstanding reaction time, cautiously stalked forward, his pistol held tightly in his hand, while his partner Otis, a dog faunus with a keen sense of smell, followed three paces behind him. Despite the fact that he and everyone else was specifically selected for this assignment, he was nervous. The man they were here to kill had managed to do something that Milo had thought was impossible. He had enraged Adam Taurus, the leader of the White Fang, and had simply walked away without a single scratch.

"Hey Otis," Milo whispered as they rounded a corner into a long hallway, "you smell anything?"

"Just cigar smoke." Otis responded, just loud enough for Milo to hear. "Nothing but smoke."

"The intel on this guy said nothing about a heavy smoking habit." Milo said, his white tail twitching nervously, "We get here and the man's house is filled with so much cigar smoke that we can literally smell nothing else. It's almost like he was expecting us." Otis was silent as they continued. Milo took a few more cautious steps before a loud thump sounded behind him. Milo spun around and saw Otis lying flat on his back.

"Man down!" Milo shouted as rushed to his partner's side, and found that his throat had been ripped out. Acting quickly, Milo knelt down and shoved a cloth to Otis' bleeding throat. "Come on Otis you bastard!" Blood poured through the cloth as Milo tried desperately staunch the bleeding. "Don't you dare die on me here!"

"It's cigarette smoke by the way."

Milo looked up and barely had time to register the bloody hand reaching for his throat.

* * *

Marcus stood over the bodies of Milo and Otis as the remaining seven men and women scoured the hallway for any sign of their target. They all had come running as soon as they heard Milo call out to them, but by the time they had reached them it was too late. Both were dead, lying in pools of their own blood. Ten faunus had been assigned to kill one human, alone, in his darkened home, and the lone human had already killed two of them with no sign of a struggle.

Marcus had known this whole thing was a bad idea. Had tried to warn Adam against hiring William Harker in the first place. A man who would kill so casually was not someone to be crossed. But Adam was adamant that Harker needed to be silenced. Marcus had asked him if what the contract killer had said about him was true.

" _Enough of it was to lend credence to the rest of it."_ Adam had replied looking over the files Harker had left behind. " _I did set out to succeed Ghira and I did mentor young Blake while earning his trust. The rest are lies but with enough of a grain of truth to make them believable."_

Were he honest with himself Marcus wasn't sure if he believed Adam's claim that most of what Harker said were lies. But that's what made him dangerous to the White Fang, the ability to so easily plant seeds of doubt.

"Sir, I found something." Marcus looked up to see Willa, a horse faunus, beckon him over to one of the rooms further down the hall. Marcus nodded to her before he turned to Simon and Seymore, twin bat faunus, as well as Carol and Howard, a wolf and raccoon faunus respectively.

"Stay together and keep searching the house." Marcus ordered, "Do not split from your group."

The four nodded an affirmative before they headed off in the opposite direction. Marcus looked to Ingrid, a monkey faunus, and motioned for her to follow two steps behind. As the approached the door Willa had called them to, Marcus' hand reached to stroke his left tusk. He quickly pulled his hand away, unwilling to indulge the nervous habit while on mission. Once they had reached the room Marcus nodded to Willa and Herbert, a badger faunus, before his eyes fell on what Willa had called him over to see.

On the wall written in what Marcus could only assume to be Milo and Otis' blood was a message left by Harker.

"Get out of my house now, or die. You filthy animals."

"Bastard." Herbert growled.

"Relax." Marcus ordered, "He's just trying to anger you. Make you reckless. We'll comb this place room by room until we find him and make him pay for what he did to our brothers. But only if we keep a clear head. The instant we lose our temper, we die."

After taking a moment to regain their composure, Marcus lead his team out of the room and further down the hall. They searched every room but found no other trace of their prey. Every few minutes Simon would call over the radio to report the same.

"Do you think he fled sir?" Simon's voice asked as Marcus rounded a corner into the kitchen.

"I doubt it Simon…" was all Marcus had time to say before a microwave oven was flung across the kitchen, directly into his head.

* * *

William smirked as the lead faunus dropped like a stone after his microwave slammed against his head. Before the intruder could hit the floor, William grabbed a pair of kitchen knives from the magnetic strip on the wall and rushed for the kitchen's entryway. The faunus who rounded the corner, gun drawn hesitated for the barest of moments when she saw her attacker. William supposed it must've been rather shocking to see a completly naked man rushing for you with two rather large knives.

That shock cost her her life as William was in front of her before she could recover, driving said knives to their handles in her chest. Using her body as a shield, William closed the distance between the remaining two members of this team, counting on their inability to shoot a comrade. He was right and before they could find away to shoot around their, now dead, friend William tossed the body aside, stunned one of them with a jab to the throat that was strong enough to collapse her windpipe, and spun the other into a chokehold, depriving him of his gun while he did so.

It was at this time that the other four would be assassins came barging in, his hostage being the only reason William wasn't immediately gunned down. Thinking quickly William dragged his newest shield back into the kitchen, carefully stepping over the poor schmuck he hit with a microwave.

"I warned you guys to get out." William said as he adjusted his grip on his hostage, taking hold of the man's adam's apple. The four faunus didn't reply as they all aimed guns at him, waiting for him to make the first move. The one he had jabbed in the throat was still wheezing on the ground. "You should've listened."

With those words he crushed his shield's adam's apple with his fingers before shoving him forward. Bullets tore through the air as William dove behind his island counter. The counter was reinforced with stone and steel, so William was confident their bullets wouldn't reach him behind it. As the gunfire drowned out all other noise William pulled out a drawer to get at the steak knives inside. They weren't exactly weighted for throwing but should serve. All four faunus were shooting all at once, which meant that they should all run out of ammo at about the same time.

"Rookies." William groaned as the bullets stopped flying. William waited until he heard the first magazine eject before he rose up and flung a knife at one of his attackers. He didn't wait to see if knife buried itself into his target, already flinging a second knife, then a third and fourth. The first two knives found their marks. Stabbing deep into his target's necks. They dropped instantly. The third was off by a few inches and instead of the woman's chest, found her shoulder. Her gun clattered to the floor as her arm went limp. The fourth knife missed completely but distracted the faunus long enough for William to grab a rolling pin and get in close.

The faunus swung at William, using his pistol as an improvised club. William sidestepped the swing and slammed the rolling pin down on the crown of his enemies head. He struck the faunus three more times until he finally dropped to the ground. Without skipping a beat William turned to the faunus with the knife in her shoulder and slammed her against the wall four times, creating a spiderweb of cracks along the tiling before he kicked out her knee and yanked the knife from her shoulder. Blood flowed from the wound as William drove it into her neck. The woman gasped uselessly for air as William left her to die.

Cautiously William stepped over the bodies and made his way over to the only one still alive. She wasn't wheezing any more, but had curled herself into a corner and was crying. William sighed as he knelt in front of the faunus, who seemed to busy crying to be concerned with the naked killer right in front of her.

"How old are you kid?" William asked.

"Seventeen." she mumbled between sobs.

William rolled his eyes before he stood up and grabbed the girl by her arm. She tried to yank herself away, but William held strong as he pulled her to her feet and shoved her towards the rooms exit.

"Get out of here kid." William ordered. "Go back to your boss and give him a message for me. Tell him the next time he tries to have me killed he better have the stones to come himself." The girl sobbed as she turned and ran away, leaving William alone with his handiwork. He was about to go grab the mop and bucket when he heard one of the bodies groan.

* * *

Marcus groaned as he slowly returned to consciousness. His head throbbed as he tried to recall what happened. Something had hit him really hard on his head. His blurry vision cleared to see a microwave oven lying not two feet away from him.

' _A microwave? Who the hell throws a microwave as a weapon?'_ Marcus thought as he slowly pulled himself to his feet. That's when he remembered where he was and why he was here. Looking around Marcus saw the bodies of his comrades lying all around the kitchen and dining room.

"Well well, look who woke up." Harker's amused voice called. Marcus turned to see his target, casually leaning against a bullet ridden island counter top, completely naked. "How you doing there Pumbaa?"

"You killed all of them?" Marcus asked, already knowing the answer.

"Not all." Harker corrected, "I let the kid go home. Little horse girl cried so much as I was butchering your friends, I just couldn't bring myself to make her into glue."

Marcus narrowed his eyes. They both knew the reason Harker spared Willa was because he considered her a child. He was just trying to provoke him. And damn him, it was working.

"So Piggy, what happens now?" William asked, pushing himself off the counter. Marcus didn't reply, at least not verbally. The boar faunus roared in anger as he charged forward tackling William to the ground, his hands wrapping around the human's neck. Harker's hands shot up to Marcus' face to try and push him off. Marcus' tusk wound up impaling Harker's left palm.

Marcus couldn't believe that after everything this single human had done. After killing eight of his comrades in a matter of minutes. All he had to do was tackle him to the ground and strangle him. It seemed too easy.

Harker evidently agreed, as that was when Harker's right hand wrapped around his other tusk and yanked as hard as he could. Marcus screamed as the tusk was ripped out and the boar scrambled away from Harker, afraid he would use his tusk as a new weapon. Harker remained on his back for a few moments, catching his breath before he rolled himself over onto his feet.

"Oh Pumbaa, Pumbaa." he choked out, dropping the tusk on the floor and grabbing a meat cleaver from a magnetic strip on the wall. Harker reached down and yanked Marcus' head to the side by his hair. "You should've stayed in the office today." And then with a savage smile Harker buried the cleaver in Marcus' neck.

* * *

 _'Oh no you Didn't' is owned by Pandemic studios and Electronic Arts. Check out the full song it's hilarious._


	6. It's All Fun and Games

A crisp autumn breeze roused Yuri from his nap. The large faunus yawned as he leaned against one of the trees and wondered what the rest of his team was up to. After lunch Yuri had a free period while the others all had Weapons Training with Professor Carlyle. Yuri never signed up for the class because well, he didn't use a weapon. Not wanting to simply waste time waiting for his team Yuri opted to use his free period to discover the identity of the mysterious Asagi Yamabuki. As Weapons Training was a three hour class, Yuri had plenty of time.

The first hour of his search proved fruitless however, as none of the first years like himself knew anything about the person. When Yuri started asking second years if they knew who Asagi was he managed to discover two things. That Asagi was a girl and a second year student. Although even that was learned indirectly.

" _Look man I'm sorry Asagi's apparently targeting you and your team, but I really can't help you."_ The first second year student he'd asked as said, " _I've still got three years left at this school, and I can't spend the entire time looking over my shoulder because she thinks I tipped you off."_ The other second years all shared similar sentiments, although one had the good decency to inform him that her pranks were harmless and not much to actually worry about.

An hour and a half into his investigation, Yuri decided to rest in the school courtyard. He randomly selected a tree and sat against it before dozing off a few minutes later.

"I was beginning to wonder if you would ever wake up?" a voice announced from above him. Surprised, Yuri bolted from the tree and looked up to see a lightly tanned girl with shoulder length orange hair and a pair of almond shaped, light orange eyes staring down at him. She wore light grey jeans, a green tank top underneath an unzipped orange hunting vest that displayed her lean but toned muscles. She smiled warmly as she clambered down the side of the tree like a squirrel, "Sorry didn't mean to scare you."

Once she was on the ground and in front of him, Yuri saw that she stood almost a full two feet shorter than him. Despite the fact that she had to practically lean back in to look him in the eyes, she continued to smile as she held out her hand.

"You're big." she commented as Yuri gently shook her hand.

"You're tiny." he replied, returning her smile. The girl's smile widened as her grip around Yuri's hand suddenly tightened. Not enough to hurt, but enough for Yuri to wonder exactly how strong this little midget was. "I'm Yuri Hawthorne. Nice to me…"

"Oh you're that guy looking for Asagi." she interrupted. "She's on my team. Are you worried about her pranking you?"

Yuri shrugged, "More curious about why me and my team."

"Oh don't take it personally." the girl assured him, "She pranks everyone, your team was just the first ones that caught her eye this year. Look on the bright side, once she's finished with you, you guys can relax and laugh at everyone the rest of the year."

Yuri chuckled, "Huh, I guess when you put it that w..." Yuri was cut off by the small girl leaping up and hugging him around his neck, likely because that was the only place she could actually wrap her arms around.

"Aw, you first years are so adorable." she cooed before letting go and walking away, "Welp see you around Gigantor."

"Heh, you too Shorty." Yuri said as he turned to see his team and Team CFVY approaching him. The seven of them were all wearing workout clothes drenched in sweat. Yuri tried not to notice but his rather sensitive nose couldn't help but make his eyes water.

"Hey partner. How was your free period?" Roland asked, spinning a pencil around his finger with almost casual ease. "You didn't spend the entire time napping did you?"

"No actually, I spent most of it trying to find who this Asagi character is." Yuri responded as he started following them to the dorms.

"Any luck?" Vincent asked, dabbing a towel across his forehead.

"Just that she's a second year student who targets literally everybody here." Yuri informed them, before he remembered. "I met someone on her team." He described the encounter with the small girl, only now realizing he never got her name.

"Hmm, well we were going to take some showers before heading down to Vale for some light shopping." Coco stated as they reached their dorm, "Then Teri wanted us to play a game later tonight so we can get to know each other better."

"Sounds fun." Yuri commented.

"See you guys in a bit." Yatsuhashi said before he and the rest of Team CFVY ducked into their dorm room.

Yuri listened to his team tell him about Professor Carlyle's class as they continued down the hallway to their dorm. As they passed the threshold Yuri felt Vincent peel something from his back.

"Looks like she struck again." he commented as he unfolded the newest note and read aloud.

 _Tomorrow. Your DOOM is at hand._

 _AY_

Yuri's eyes widened as he realized he had actually found the very person he'd been searching for. "Asagi Yamabuki, you tiny little…"

* * *

Velvet smiled as Coco lead their group of eight through Vale, making sure to stop by every clothing store there was. Somehow their quick snack run had turned into a full blown shopping tour of the city. She, Coco, and Teresa walked at the head of the group while their five male companions all trailed behind, each carrying their approximate weight in clothes.

"How exactly... did we end up... in this situation?" Roland wheezed as he struggled to keep up with group.

"We came down... here for some chips and sodas... I believe." Vincent huffed as he readjusted his grip for the fifth time in two minutes. "How exactly... that turned into this however... I've no idea."

"Well I just figured, when's the next time I'll have five, strong, young, gentlemen to help me carry my bags." Coco informed them at the head of the group, inciting giggles from Teresa and Velvet. While it was true that the majority of the bags were Coco's, Velvet and Teresa had managed to sneak some in too. Although Velvet did feel a little bad about have the boys literally carry all of the bags. In an effort to make it up to them she offered to carry the chips and soda.

"Come on boys." Coco announced, "We've only have a few more stores to visit. Then we have a game to play." The five boys all groaned in despair.

"We must... stay strong... my friends." Yatsuhashi panted as they all tried to keep up with the girls.

* * *

"So here are the rules of the game." Teresa stated as she placed a spinner on the center of the desks gathered in the middle of their dorm, and gave it a little test spin. " It's simple, when the arrow points at you, you have to reveal one personal thing about yourself. You can pass if you can't think of anything but then you have to answer a question instead. Also make sure you introduce yourself the first time around."

The group all nodded in response as they sat around the spinner with the sodas and chips the group had procured from their "quick" shopping trip to Vale.

"I'll go first. I'm Teresa Belmonte and uhm, oh I like reading horror novels." Teresa stated before giving the spinner a flick. The arrow spun around for a few seconds before coming to a stop on Vincent.

The strawberry blonde took a quick gulp of his soda before he spoke, "I'm Vincent Helsing, and I'm the youngest of three siblings." Another spin found the arrow pointing at Fox.

The orange haired student looked at the arrow with his blank white eyes before looking up to see Teresa and her teammates all leaning over the desks. Over the last three days not a single one of them had heard Fox utter a word.

The young man cleared his throat before saying in a soft, quiet voice, "My name is Fox Alistair, I don't really like talking." The four members of Team VTRY all face planted on the desks. Yuri's almost broke under his size. The remaining members of Team CFVY all chuckled as Fox reached over and spun the arrow.

* * *

"Finally. Thought the damned thing would never land on me." Roland said when the arrow landed on him for the first time all night. The game had been going on for about an hour and during that time the arrow had landed on Teresa three more times, Yuri five, Vincent seven, Coco four, Velvet six, and Yatsuhashi eight. The arrow seemed to avoid Fox like the plague after the first time, but the rest of the group had revealed some interesting things about themselves. Coco, for one, held an appreciation for heavy metal soundtracks. Yatsuhashi was, apparently, regularly called upon by the children of his home village to act as a Ruin Master for games of _Ruins and Grimm_. Yuri told everyone that he was a sucker for a good romantic comedy, and no one was really surprised when Velvet told the group about her interests in photography. Now Roland had one that would blow all of theirs out of the water.

"Alright then Roland," Coco started taking a sip of her soda, "What is it that you're so desperate to share with the group."

"Hehehe. You guys are not going to believe this." Roland laughed as he rose from his seat. "My name is Roland Harker," he said with a dramatic bow, "and I like to ballroom dance."

There was a long silence as Roland's words washed over the group.

"Well he's right." Yuri said, "I don't believe him."

"Oh your doubt hurts me so much partner." Roland said, placing his hand over heart as though he'd been shot.

"Prove it." Teresa challenged, certain that he'd back down and say it was a lie.

"Well I'll need a partner then." Roland offered his hand, "Would any of you lovely ladies care to accompany me in a dance?" The three girls all looked at each other before Teresa stood up.

"Very well Roland. You're on." Teresa stated as she and Roland moved to stand across from one another. Roland bowed as Teresa did a little curtsy.

"Do you know the Vacuan Tango?" Roland asked, lifting his eyebrows.

"No." Teresa stated.

"Then I shall teach you." Roland said in his most seductive voice.

"Oh you misunderstood me Roland," Teresa remarked, "I know the Vacuan Tango. There's just no way I'm doing 'that' dance with you."

Roland looked at the others, "Can't blame a guy for trying, right?" They just laughed as Roland suggested, "Then how about the Atlesian Waltz?"

Teresa smiled, "That is acceptable." The two then stepped closer with Roland placing his right hand on Teresa's waist and Teresa placing her left hand on his shoulder. Their opposite hands held each other.

"Hey boss can we get some music please?" Roland called to Vincent, remembering that he had liked classical music. Vincent pulled out his scroll and a few moments later the room was filled with soft orchestral music.

Roland waited a moment for the music's soft opening notes to pass. In that moment he felt Teresa shift her weight around so that she'd be light on her feet. He felt her breath fall into sync with the music. He felt her body relax in his arms as she prepared herself to follow his every move. In that moment the two of them placed themselves into the other's hands, and then they began.

Roland took them around the room slowly at first, using the time to get a feel for how Teresa danced. Every step she took was perfectly placed, her eyes never once leaving his. The shifts of her body matching perfectly with his own. He knew then that she was just as comfortable here on a dance floor as she was on the battlefield.

But Roland was just as confident. He upped the pace, leading Teresa through more complex steps. Their movements were in perfect sync with one another. He smiled as Teresa merely lifted an eyebrow in response as she flowed through the dance like water.

Without breaking stride she leaned closer to Roland and whispered, "Come on Roland. I thought you were going to put me through my paces here."

Roland's smiled widened as he felt her warm breath tickle his ear. "If my lady insists." he whispered back.

Roland raised the hand holding hers as he released her waist, and Teresa immediately spun underneath his arm. He grabbed a hold of her waist again as they resumed at a much faster pace. He allowed the music to guide him through the steps just as he guided her. They moved and breathed as one. As the music reached its climax he gently dipped her as her hands softly wrapped around his neck.

Roland was faintly aware of the others watching as he stood Teresa up before separating. The gunslinger took two steps back before he bowed to his partner once again. Teresa curtsied in reply before they turned back to their friends, who were all staring slack jawed at the two of them. Coco was the first to recover, starting a quiet round of applause that the others quickly took up. Roland glanced over at Teresa, who shrugged, before they gave one final bow and curtsy and took their seats.

"So who's next?" Roland asked as he gave the spinner a flick.

* * *

 _A/N:_ _Wanted to keep this one lighthearted after last chapter's blood bath. As always I hope you guys enjoy. Side note, this was my first time writing a dance scene. Really liked how it turned out and pray you do as well. Til next time._

 _Asagi Yamabuki is an original character submitted by Harukawa Ayame._


	7. The Prank Mistress of Beacon

Fox casually strolled down the hallway to his dorm. His left hand held a roll of newspapers while his right carried the cardboard cup holder containing his team's morning dose of caffeine. Coco had ordered a double-shot macchiato, Yatsuhashi got an oolong tea, Velvet wanted a hot chocolate with some marshmallows sprinkled in, and Fox himself had simply stuck to black coffee. As he strolled past Team VTRY's dorm, Fox idly wondered if any of them were awake yet. Coco had insisted on her team waking up fairly early, at six o'clock, classes wouldn't even start for another three hours.

"Plenty of time for us to get a quick workout before class." Coco had stated as she set the alarm the night before. Personally Fox felt that he, Yatsuhashi, and the boys of VTRY had gotten enough of a workout lugging all of her stuff around Vale, but she was the team leader. And Fox couldn't fault her desire for CFVY to be the strongest of the freshman teams.

Pausing to readjust his grip on the papers, Fox slipped inside their dorm to find Coco laying out her uniform for after the workout, Yatsuhashi sat in a corner meditating. Both were dressed for their workout, with Coco in a black and brown tracksuit and Yatsuhashi in simple sweats. Velvet was still on her bed, curled in a ball under her sheets. Instead of splitting the room into fourths like VTRY, CFVY had opted for dividing the room in half, with Coco and Velvet's beds residing along the western wall, and Fox and Yatsuhashi's along the eastern wall. The desks were all lined up at the northern wall, with the two bookshelves resting on either side of the door at the southern wall.

Silently, Fox crossed the room and placed the cup holder and papers on one of the desks. When Coco and Yatsuhashi came over, he handed them their drinks and the section of the paper they wanted. Yatsuhashi took the puzzles, and Coco took the fashion articles. When Velvet failed to come get her hot chocolate, Fox gave his teammates a questioning look.

"I just didn't have the heart to wake her." Coco said as she sipped her macchiato, "She's just too adorable when she's asleep." Fox only raised an eyebrow as Coco asked him to wake Velvet up.

"Sure." Fox replied before muttering under his breath, "Make me the bad guy why don't ya." Hot chocolate in hand, Fox walked over to Velvet's bed and gently nudged the pile of blankets the faunus was sleeping under. A few moments passed before Velvet poked her head out from under the blankets, her long brown hair a mess, and her bunny ears pointing in opposite directions.

"Five more minutes Fox." she groaned as she tried to pull the blanket back over her head. Fox grabbed ahold of the blanket and gently pulled it away. Like the others Velvet was dressed for the oncoming workout, wearing loose fitting athletic shirt and shorts. She slowly sat up as Fox held out her cup of hot chocolate.

"Drink before the marshmallows melt." Fox advised when she took the cup from his hand.

"Thank you Fox." Velvet said quietly as she sipped her drink. Fox simply nodded before he stalked back to the desks and looked at the international section of the news.

' _Faunus Slaughterhouse In Mistral!'_ The primary headline read. ' _The normally quiet town of Beru was shocked this morning by a grizzly scene found at the residence of one, Edward Niobe. Nine severed faunus heads were discovered on Niobe's front porch by Howard Reese, who was out for his morning jog. Authorities have been unable to identify the names of the deceased, nor have they been able ascertain the location of Mr. Niobe, who is at this moment the primary suspect. Edward Niobe is a human male, approximately forty to forty-five years old, light skinned with dark hair. Please refer to an artist's renditioning of Mr. Niobe on page five for more details. If you see this man do not confront him, but contact your local authorities. He is considered armed and extremely dangerous. Additionally an apple with a letter carved into it was shoved into the mouth of each of the victims, spelling…'_

 **BOOM!**

"AAAGGGHHHH!" the loud scream tore Fox from his article. The rest of his team all looked up from their activities as well. As one they rushed to the door and peeked outside. Roland stood just outside his door, wearing a tank top and his pajama bottoms, covered head to toe in soot, still dazed from whatever had happened to him. Cautiously Fox followed Coco as she led the team to Roland's side, his teammates were already by him. Other students were also coming out of their dorms to investigate the disturbance.

"What happened here?" Coco asked, slowly waving a hand in front of Roland's face to see if he could react. Roland blinked in response to the wave and slowly turned to face his teammates.

"Yuri." the gunslinger started, his fists clenching and unclenching. "What did you say that Asagi girl looked like?" Yuri described the girl he'd met the day before, short, lightly tanned skin, shoulder length orange hair and almond shaped light orange eyes. "Alright, good to know. This was an act of war, and I will not rest until I get that little varmint back." With his declaration of revenge still hanging in the air, Roland spun on his heel and retreated back into his dorm. The rest of VTRY looked around nervously for any sign of their prankster.

"See you guys later." Vincent said as they retreated to the safety of their dorm.

"You guys have Professor Oobleck at nine too right?" Velvet asked.

"Yeah we'll see you there." Teresa responded before gently shutting the door, leaving CFVY and the others in the hallway. None of them noticed the giggling troublemaker, peering at her handy work from around the corner.

* * *

Velvet's body was quite sore from the morning workout Coco had them run. It had started with a two mile run around the academy for a warmup. From there she had the team do a solid thirty minutes of squats, crunches, push ups, leg lifts, and lunges, with only a few seconds of rest between sets. After that she lead them to the weight room where for the next forty minutes or so she had them lift until Velvet was dead certain that her arms were about to pop off. The hot shower she took afterwards did little to ease the pain.

However despite the soreness of her muscles, she couldn't help but feel a little sorry for Vincent she watched him frantically try to keep pace with Oobleck's insane teaching speed. Vincent's pencil blazed across his notebook almost as fast as Oobleck zoomed around his classroom, pausing only long enough to sip his coffee. She, along with the rest of the class, had given up trying to take notes about five minutes in after their teacher had in the course of those minutes gone over what must've been forty five minutes worth of material.

"Professor Oobleck?" Velvet called out while raising her hand. She blinked and suddenly found Oobleck right next to her, peering into her brown eyes through his glasses.

"Dr. Oobleck please Ms. Scarlatina." he corrected her, "I didn't earn my Phd. for fun I'll have you know."

"Sorry, Dr. Oobleck." Velvet continued, "Could you please slow down a bit? It's a little hard to keep up with you." Oobleck looked around the classroom and noticed that most of his students were looking like they were having trouble following him.

"Of course. My apologies class, it seems that I was a smidge too excited when I started." Oobleck said as he zipped back down to the chalkboard. "Can one of you please tell me where to start again?"

The room was silent for a moment as nobody wanted to tell him that they had practically no idea what the hell he had been talking about prior to Velvet's interruption.

"Could you start at the discovery of Dust and how man utilized it to fight against the Grimm?" Vincent called out, "That's about where you lost us."

"Very well, thank you Mr. Helsing. Now legends state that the discovery of the material we call Dust was in…"

Velvet smiled as she saw Vincent visibly relax as Oobleck continued his lesson at a much more reasonable speed. The strawberry blonde leader of team VTRY glanced back at Velvet and nodded his thanks before he returned to taking his notes. Notes that Velvet was sure the entire class would be asking to copy.

"My god that man can talk fast." Coco commented as they walked out of the classroom an hour later. "Poor Vincent looked like he was about to have a meltdown." she added, gently prodding the boy in his ribs.

"I just couldn't keep up with him." Vincent confessed, seemingly still in mild shock. "That's never happened to me before." There was a brief moment of awkward silence as the eight of them continued down the hallway for their next class.

"You gonna be alright buddy?" Roland asked, placing a comforting hand on the shoulder of his traumatized teammate.

"Yeah, yeah I'll be fine." he stammered before looking over to Velvet. "Thanks again for getting him to slow down a bit Velvet."

"You're welcome." she replied, smiling as she noticed something, "Hey Terri, where's your bag?"

"Huh? Oh crap. Must've left it in Oobleck's class." Teresa grumbled, "I'll be right back."

"Do want us to accompany you?" Yatsuhashi inquired.

"No thanks, you guys go on ahead." Teresa responded as she rounded a corner, "I'll catch up with you in Professor Peach's cla… AAAAIIIIIEEEE!"

At the sound of Teresa's scream, Velvet and the others rushed around the corner to see Teresa, hanging upside down, a corded rope tied around one ankle. Her hands pulled at the hem of her skirt to keep herself modest. The boys of Team VTRY were quick to get her down, with Yuri holding on to her while Roland boosted Vincent up to untie her ankle. As they worked to get her down, an evil, malicious cackling echoed throughout the hallway.

"Two down, two to go." Asagi's voice taunted them from seemingly all directions.

"Roland, you just gained an ally in your quest for vengeance." Teresa seethed as she and the gunslinger continued to Oobleck's classroom to get her bag back.

"So do either of you two know who her next target is?" Coco asked, taking a conspicuous step away from Yuri and Vincent.

Vincent merely shrugged while Yuri answered, "I'm more curious as to how the hell she sets up these traps so quickly."

* * *

Yatsuhashi sipped his afternoon tea in silence as the din of the mess hall buzzed around him as he looked over the notes Vincent had taken during Oobleck's and Peach's classes. The man was a rather diligent note taker, copying down the instructor's lesson verbatim while adding thoughts and commentaries in the margins. Though his notes from Oobleck's class were, understandably, a bit more rushed and messy. Across from him Roland sat plotting his revenge on Asagi. The rest of the group were all standing in the lunch line.

"Alright so here's the plan." Roland disclosed, "Teresa will string the target up with her whip, then I'll start taking pot shots at her with some rubber bullets."

"That might be going a bit too far Roland." Yatsuhashi objected as he placed his tea on the table. "You should just let it go."

"You're only saying that because she hasn't gotten to you yet." Roland countered, "Just you wait, when she moves on from my team to yours, you'll be wanting revenge as well."

"Revenge is a poison that often kills the poisoner as well." Yatsuhashi quoted, "My father taught me that lesson."

"Yeah well my pa taught me to get even, then to take some interest." the gunslinger informed him, pointing his fork at Yatsuhashi's chest. Yatsuhashi smirked at his new friend's words.

"I don't think our fathers would get along at all." he stated.

"Probably not." Roland agreed, "My pa made it a habit of his to piss off just about everyone he ever met. Hell, to hear him say it, my ma takes a 'shoot on sight' approach if she even thinks she'll run into him."

"You're parent's don't get along?" Yatsuhashi asked, profoundly troubled by the revelation.

"From what I hear. I wouldn't know. I've never met her" Roland informed him.

"I'm sorry to hear that." Yatsuhashi said. "Must be hard."

"What must be hard?" Velvet asked as she and the rest of the group joined them at the table.

"Oh Yatsu and I were just discussing how best to get back at Asagi." Roland informed the group, giving Yatsuhashi a look that all but screamed, ' _Not a word.'_

"And how's that going?" Vincent asked taking a seat between Roland and Yuri.

"Roland wants to string her up with Teresa's whip and shoot her with rubber bullets." Yatsuhashi told them. Both Vincent and Yuri raised an eyebrow at the suggested revenge, Coco only had one word in response.

"Harsh."

"I'm in." Teresa stated, "She needs to learn that one doesn't simply anger a Belmonte of Atlas."

"Or a Harker." Roland threw in, holding his fist out for Teresa to bump with her own.

"Hey could you pass the salt please?" Vincent asked holding out an open palm. Yatsuhashi handed over the salt shaker before returning to his tea. "Thank you." As Vincent went to add a light sprinkle of salt to his soup, the lid fell off and the entire container poured into his lunch. Everyone just stared, open mouthed, as Vincent just looked at his ruined meal. The Helsing said nothing as he calmly put the empty salt shaker down and pulled a folded piece of paper out of the salt.

"You know compared to the other stuff she's been doing today, that seemed a little disappointing." he commented as he unfolded the paper and read aloud. "Look up."

As one all eight of them looked up just in time to see two large buckets tip over and spill their contents. Yatsuhashi and the others could only watch as both Vincent and Yuri had several gallons of water spill on them. The water splashed all over the group but the bulk of it drenched the two of them. The two, now waterlogged members of VTRY sat perfectly still as Asagi's triumphant laughter reached their ears.

* * *

Coco held her hands to her mouth, partly to wipe away the water that had splashed her, mostly to hide her smile at the misfortune of her friends, as she and the others all turned to face the source of the laughter.

' _Wow, Yuri wasn't kidding. She really is tiny.'_ she thought upon seeing the little orange haired prankster. Asagi was happily strolling towards them, her hands resting behind her head, a wide smile playing across her face.

"Alright, eight for the price of two." she crowed before sitting at their table, across from her victims. Coco had to admit, the girl had guts. "So allow me to properly introduce myself. Asagi Yamabuki, Prank Mistress Supreme of Beacon Academy, and I must I am impressed with how well you guys are handling yourselves these first couple of days. I told Malcolm, that's my partner, that we had some good students this year. I mean, when you guys were all about to jump to that mouse boy's defence, hoo, I think my heart skipped a few beats."

"So naturally you decided to prank us all." Vincent stated, his tone was neutral, but Coco could sense some danger in his voice. Yuri's face was just as neutral, but again Coco noticed the slight twitch in his amber eyes. The threatening looks on Roland and Teresa's faces however were much more obvious.

"It's what I do." Asagi replied, seemingly ignorant of the potential danger she was in. "I prank people to get a feel for them."

Coco watched as Vincent calmly folded his hands on the table. "Well I defend my friends. And you Asagi, Mistress of Pranks, have 'attacked' three of mine. You know what I have to do now right?"

Asagi's smile widened as she nodded. "Oh I knew I would like you guys." she then turned to Coco and her team, "Will you be joining in on the fun?"

Coco cast a sidelong glance to Vincent who met her eyes and gave an almost imperceptible nod. Coco then looked to her teammates before meeting Asagi's light orange eyes with her own chocolate brown ones.

"Get her." Coco ordered. In a flash all nine of them were on their feet, the eight members of Teams CFVY and VTRY chasing the lone Asagi Yamabuki, who just laughed as she led them on a merry chase.

* * *

The few days at Atlas Academy were always trying. The new teams had to be made, schedules adjusted to, classes introduced, etcetera, etcetera. Winter Schnee didn't really mind, it was all just a bit tiring. So all in all she felt perfectly within her rights to want to take her sword and stab it through her scroll the instant it started buzzing. But alas, she was a professional, so she restrained herself and picked up the annoying little device. Upon checking the caller ID, Winter's frown only deepened as she read the name assigned to the number.

 _Bastard._

"What do you want Harker?" Winter demanded after answering the call.

"Whoa, nice to hear from you too Ice Queen." the hitman's voice extolled, "Did I catch you at a bad time?" Winter had to stop herself from informing the man that any time was a bad time whenever he was involved. She knew it would only encourage him.

"Why did you call?" she asked, forcing her voice to be a little gentler. His answer came in an infuriating, sing song tone.

"Just wanted to say hi to my favorite Schnee, ask you to tell Rosalyn that her son made it into Beacon, inform you that the White Fang tried to hire me to kill you and your family. You know small, not important things."

"I'm assuming that the key word for that last statement was 'tried'." Winter guessed, already knowing she was correct.

"Yep," he confirmed, "I wouldn't worry too much about them right now though."

Winter could barely contain her annoyance at the hitman's blitheness. "Oh really, cause a large, international terrorist group targeting my entire family seems like exactly the kind of thing I should be worried about."

"Normally you'd be right, but I'm pretty sure that right now their boss is much more interested in putting me in the ground than you guys. I assume you heard about what happened in Anima? A small town called Beru?"

"Yeah, nine faunus heads with apples shoved in their mouths lined up on a front porch." Winter recalled from her morning reports, "So that was you?"

"Yep and I left a little message for the guy who sent those amateurs after me." William laughed.

"You called a leader of the White Fang a pedophile?" Winter asked, not really believing that even William would go that far.

"To his face, several times." the man happily responded, "So I imagine he'll be focusing his efforts on shutting me up as fast as possible before he moves on to you and yours. You're welcome."

Winter sighed as she could already feel the regret coming, "Do you need any help disappearing?"

"You offering me safe haven at your place?" William's voice appealed. Winter could just imagine the bastard's face. "Thank's but I already have something planned, just need to get some of the finer details down before execution… which by the way is what Rosalyn would try to do to me if I dared show up in Atlas."

At the mention of his ex, Winter felt the need to ask, "Did you have anything you wanted me to pass on to her?"

There was a long pause before William spoke again. "Yeah, please tell that she's a rotten cu..."

* * *

 _AN: And there's chapter 7. Sad as it is to say, those pranks were a lot harder to write than I thought they would be. As always I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter. I'm curious to see if anyone can guess what William's plans for laying low are. I'll see you guys next time... kind of... cause you know I can't actually see any of you guys but... you know what, you get the idea. Enjoy._

 _Asagi Yamabuki is a character submitted by Harukawa Ayame._


	8. A Common Foe

"It's not like Professor Carlyle to be late.?" Teresa stated as she looked around the fitness room. As the weeks passed at Beacon, the Weapons Instructor had always been waiting for his class to arrive. Naturally the entire class was a bit confused when they found that their teacher was nowhere to be seen.

"Maybe something came up." Roland suggested spinning one of his pistols around his finger. "Maybe he's sick or something."

"Mr. Carlyle found himself in a rather unfortunate accident and had to be taken to the hospital over the weekend." a new voice announced from Carlyle's office. Teresa turned with the rest of the class to see an older man, roughly in his late thirties, come walking out carrying several files in one hand and a duffle bag over his shoulder. He wore a black tank top and sweatpants. His blonde hair was cropped short, his lightly tanned arms bore a number of scars and his brown eyes seemed to bore into whatever they looked at. But the most curious thing Teresa saw about this man, was that he was barefoot, showing that he was missing two toes on his left foot.

"My name is Gerald Locke," the man introduced himself, his voice containing a slight Atlesian accent, "You will address me as Mr. Locke, not Professor Locke. _Mister,_ am I understood?"

"Yes Mr. Locke." the class answered all at once.

"Very good," Mr. Locke nodded as he held up his file, "Now I'm going to go through the roll call. When I call your team name I want your whole team standing in front of me. You will introduce yourselves to me and tell me how you fight. Both as a team and by yourself. In the meantime, while the rest of you are waiting to be called, I expect you to be doing something. It could be stretches, push ups, sit ups, or even light sparring, doesn't matter as long as you're active. If I find anyone who isn't doing something… I'll make you regret it. Is that understood?" Again the class answered as one. "Great. Team ASLT, get up here."

"So what do you think his deal is?" Teresa asked Roland and Vincent as they made their way over to the pull up bars.

"Who knows." Roland said as he hopped up and grabbed a bar. He pulled his chin up to the bar before lowering himself and repeating the process. "Probably just some hard ass Huntsman Ozpin keeps for a back up teacher."

"Most likely." Vincent agreed as he dropped to the ground for some push ups. "Don't think I've ever heard the name Locke before though."

"What, do you know every Huntsman and Huntress in Vale?" Teresa teased as she took Roland's place on the pull up bar.

"Yeah, or is just the ones worth knowing for you Helsing types?" Roland joined in.

Vincent smiled as he rolled to his back for crunches, "Do I know all of the Hunters in Vale? No, I do not. Do I only know the ones 'worth knowing'? Once again, no. Does my cranky, paranoid Grandpa make it his business to learn everything he can about every single registered Hunter in the entire kingdom? Absolutely."

' _Huh, I think this is the first time he's ever mentioned his grandfather.'_ Teresa thought as she dropped down from the bar. During his time with the team, Vincent he had told them about his older brother and sister, Victor and Violet, twins who were a botanist and Huntress respectively, and his mother and father, Valerica and Jason, who were traveling traders. But he never brought up his grandparents and anytime someone tried, he would change the subject faster than Dr. Oobleck's speech pattern. Teresa was not about to let this opportunity slip through her fingers.

"What's your Grandfather like?" she questioned, praying that Vincent didn't just ignore the question.

"Like I said, cranky and paranoid." Vincent repeated before including, "Has way too much time on his hands now that he's retired, and will absolutely not shut up about the 'glorious days' of his youth."

Teresa was about to ask what Vincent meant by that when Locke called their team up. Cursing under her breath she followed her leader as he got to his feet and led them over to the instructor. Locke took one look at the three present member of VTRY before returning his eyes to his file.

"Where's your fourth member, Yuri Hawthorne?" Locke asked, tapping his maimed foot on the ground.

"He doesn't take this class." Teresa informed him, causing him to look up, his face a mask of pure annoyance. Teresa continued to explain, hoping to calm the man down, "He doesn't fight with a weapon so he never signed up for the class." It didn't work.

"Do you know where he is?" Locke inquired.

"Yes Mr. Locke." Vincent responded.

"Then go get him." the instructor ordered, "I want him in here within five minutes." The three members of VTRY nodded once before they ran off to collect their fourth member.

* * *

"Alright kid, I'm only gonna ask this once. Why didn't you sign up for this class?" Mr. Locke had to look up to meet Yuri's eyes. Even though Yuri stood almost a foot taller than the instructor, the faunus was still intimidated by the shorter man. That being said, Yuri wasn't about to let the man push him around.

"It's a class about _weapons_ training." Yuri informed the man, "I don't use a weapon sir." Mr. Locke smiled at Yuri's answer. It was not a friendly smile.

"I bet you think that was clever don't you." he stated, it wasn't a question. "Well let me tell you something kid. You actually do possess a weapon, in fact you possess two. Your mind." Locke emphasized his point by tapping on Yuri's forehead, "And your body. I know it sounds cliche as hell, but it's true. And now you're going to show me how you use them."

"Sir?" Yuri questioned as Locke pulled a pair of bracers and greaves from his duffel bag and quickly strapped them on. "What are you…"

"You and I are going to fight." Locke interrupted, adjusting the straps on his bracers. "This won't be a simple sparring match either. If you aren't trying to put me in the ground, you **will** get hurt." Yuri glanced over to his teammates, all of whom looked just as confused as he did. "Why are you looking at them? You're fighting me, not them. Now attack."

Yuri did as he was told and took a swing at Mr. Locke, making sure not to use his full strength so he didn't hurt the smaller man. Locke made no such considerations. The instructor caught the punch on his bracers before he grabbed a hold on Yuri's wrist and jammed his thumb into a pressure point. Pain unlike anything Yuri had ever felt lanced up his arm as Locke gave the wrist a twist before kicking out the back of Yuri's left knee. The seven foot tall bear faunus fell to his right knee, only being held up by Locke's vice grip on his wrist.

"Did you think I was kidding?" Locke growled, "Did you think I wouldn't hurt you because I'm your new teacher? Well kid here's a news flash for you." Locke looked around to see that all of the students had their eyes glued to the 'fight'. He raised his voice so the entire room could hear, "Here's a news flash for all of you. You're not at a business school, nor a law school, or any other school. You are at a Combat Academy. You are here to become warriors, and warriors hurt people." Yuri felt his arm twist a little for emphasis. Yuri looked to his teammates, who looked about ready to attack Locke en masse. With his free hand Locke pointed at the three of them and shook his finger.

"Don't even think about it." he warned, "Not a single one of you is to interfere. As for you." Locke released Yuri's wrist and the faunus quickly scrambled away, cradling his arm to his chest. "You're going to attack me again, and if you don't actually try, next time I'll break you arm."

Yuri rose to his feet, still trying to rub the pain from his arm before he attacked. Taking zero chances, Yuri refrained from using haymakers and hooks, sticking to jabs and feints, but his jabs could still cave a man's chest in if they hit. Locke responded by ducking and weaving around the punches, only occasionally using his bracers to redirect a blow away from him. Wary of being caught in another pressure hold, Yuri pulled his arms back the instant he made contact with the instructor's armored forearms. Locke didn't attack often, but when he did he always landed a hit. He didn't hit hard, but his strikes stung fiercely and always forced Yuri to back away to avoid the follow up. Locke never let him stay disengaged for long, always moving forward, pressing the attack even when on defense. Locke chased Yuri around the room, forcing the uninvolved students to stampede out of the way. As he retreated, Yuri tripped over his feet and went sprawling on the ground.

Locke smirked evilly as he lunged forward, only to stop mid attack. The bracer on his left forearm unfolded into a rounded shield as he spun on the balls of his feet and placed the shield between him and the three bullets Roland had just fired at him. Yuri quickly scrambled to his feet as Vincent, Roland, and Teresa all stepped next to him. All three of them held their weapons ready. Locke smirked at the act of defiance.

"I thought I told you kids not to interfere."

"Yeah, you did. But there's just one problem." Roland stated, pointing his twin pistols directly at Locke's chest.

"We're a team so if you fight one of us…" Teresa continued.

"You have to fight all of us." Vincent finished pointing his sword at Locke's chest.

Yuri smiled as he stood with his friends, "So Mr. Locke, you still want to do this?" Locke simply smiled as he flicked his right wrist. A small cylinder slid into his hand before it extended into a short sword.

"By all means children." he stated as he moved his shield in front of him.

"Then I hope you don't mind all of us joining in too." The five of them all turned to see not only Coco, Fox, Velvet and Yatsuhashi standing ready to fight Locke, but almost the entire classroom, although it looked like the members of PRDE opted to sit this one out. Yuri watched as Locke smiled at the scene unfolding before him.

"Well, well kid." he said pointing his sword at Yuri, "Looks like you've got some good friends standing beside you. I think I'm starting to like you all." And then Locke attacked.

* * *

As Locke tossed the final bit of Multitool back into his duffel bag, he quickly went over the events of his first classroom teaching experience. After practically the entire classroom stood against him, he told the class a simple, if harsh truth.

" _Out in the field, out in the real world your enemy will never hold back." he told his students, most of whom lay strewn across the floor. "The creatures of Grimm will not hold back, the White Fang will not hold back, any number of murderous psychos will not hold back, and in this class I will not hold back." Locke's students all stared at him, some with understanding, some with fear, some with indifference, but they all looked to him._

" _The instant you step foot in this room I become your enemy. You must stand united. Or you will die alone." The last bit was stated directly to the only team who didn't fight him. PRDE. They at least had the good decency to look embarrassed. "Now all of you get out of my class. You have only one homework assignment, get stronger than you were today."_

"I think you might've taken the drill sergeant nasty routine a bit far, Locke." The new teacher looked up to see Ozpin and Goodwitch standing at the threshold of the room. "May we come in, or will you become our enemy?"

"I don't think I could survive being your enemy Oz." Locke laughed as he gestured the Headmaster and the professor in. "As for taking it too far, I don't know what you're talking about. It worked perfectly. The entire class stands against me."

"At the rate you're going the entire school will stand against you, Mr. Locke." Goodwitch commented, giving Locke one of her withering glares.

Locke shrugged, "I was under the impression that was the point."

"The point is for the students to learn to trust not just their teammates but also each other." Ozpin explained. "We want the students to be ready to stand together against a common enemy."

"And I can be that common enemy." Locke stated, "If you want them ready for what's out there, then I can't go easy on them like Goodwitch here does."

"I teach them how to fight with precision and control…" she started before Locke interrupted her.

"That's all fine and dandy in a controlled environment like a tournament, but out there in the real world, all you're teaching them is how to get killed. The enemy won't stop the fight once their aura levels drop to ten percent."

Goodwitch looked ready to offer a rebuttal that Locke was fairly certain would've left him pinned to the ceiling, but Ozpin held up his hand to forestall her wrath.

"I will say this once Locke. You will not harm my students." he said the words with his normal, soft tone, but Locke heard the underlying threat clear as day. "Hurt my students and you'll wish it was the Grimm or the White Fang that got a hold of you."

* * *

 _AN: Another chapter come and gone and I'm finally starting to introduce some actual conflict into the bloody story. As always I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter, see you all next time._


	9. Standing for a Friend

_AN: Hello again everyone. Well another chapter's come and gone. I really enjoyed writing this one and I pray you guys and gals enjoy reading it. As ever reviews and questions are always welcome. I will answer any questions you give me, so long as it's not a spoiler, and while I tend not to respond to reviews unless it has a question in it, I do always read them and they always put a smile on my face. On that note, in regards to the review left by a Manon the anon, thank you for the constructive advice and while the members of team VTRY may not be named for colors, there is an overlying theme with regards to their last names... and it's not starting with an H. As always I hope you enjoy the chapter and I'll see you next time._

* * *

"Why have you done this Coco?" Roland asked as he forced himself to his feet. His companions all around him lay unconscious aside from Vincent who was hemorrhaging from a deep wound in his side. A massive pack of beowolves surrounded all of them, and further beyond all of them was Coco. The traitor was untouched as she slowly walked through the pack of grimm, the soulless beasts actively moved out of her way as she passed.

"Why?" Coco asked as she stood just out of reach. A cruel smirk stretched across her face as she gestured to the grimm around them. "Just look at the power I command now. The grimm themselves bend to my will. I think the better question is why won't you guys join me?"

"We set out to save people," Vincent groaned as he struggled to his knees, one hand pressed against his open wound. "We were meant to protect them from the grimm, not serve them on a silver platter. You treacherous bitch!" The strawberry blonde coughed crimson blood on to the ground in front of him as Coco just eyed him without pity or remorse.

"Controlling the grimm will save more lives than fighting them ever could." Coco stated as she kicked Vincent across his face. Roland flinched as his leader sprawled on his back, teeth flying from his bloody mouth. "If a village must die so a kingdom can live, then so be it."

"What happens when you run out of villages then?" Roland asked, his fists tightening around the handles of his pistols. "Do you move onto towns next? Cities? Is that what Velvet died for?"

"What happened to Velvet was regrettable." Coco admitted, "But she made her choice. As I have made mine. I'll spare you all this once, but attempt to stop me again and you will all die. Good bye."

' _I can't let her get away with this.'_ Roland thought as Coco turned on her heels and casually, oh so casually, strutted through the pack of beowolves like they weren't even there. ' _She betrayed the team! Velvet is dead because of her!'_ Roland screamed as he lifted his pistols and fired. Coco never even turned around as two beowolves jumped to intercept the shots. They both dropped to the ground, missing large chunks of their heads.

"The only place you're going is straight to Hell you traitor!" Roland roared as he fired again and again. Coco was already moving behind the cover of a massive marble pillar, her weapon unfolding into its large minigun form.

"Kill them all!" Coco ordered her beasts, causing the beowolves to surge forward. Roland's pistols flashed as the gunslinger unloaded into the pack. Meanwhile Vincent had managed to drag himself to his feet and was futily trying to keep the monsters at bay with his sword. Teresa, Yuri, and Fox were thankfully being ignored by the grimm, the monsters attention focused completely on the two struggling members of the group. Roland swore as he saw a beowolf claw his leader and friend across his back, but Vincent wasn't completely out of the fight yet. The young Helsing spun with the blow and with a single swipe of his blade, relieved the beowolf's head from its shoulders.

Roland worked his way over to Vincent just as Coco emerged from her cover, minigun firing. Her bullets tore through several grimm, and would've blasted Vincent and Roland apart had Roland not tackled Vincent to the ground.

"Stay down." Roland said as he reloaded his pistols. "I'll take care of her."

"Be careful Roland." Vincent whispered as his eyes drooped closed. Roland rolled away from Vincent and fired at Coco, who ducked behind her pillar. Roland smiled as he adjusted his aim slightly and fired his pistol, intending to ricochet the bullet off the wall behind the pillar and directly between Coco's eyes. It didn't work out.

* * *

"Ooh, a natural one, tough break there my friend." Yatsuhashi declared, "As it turns out you miscalculated the trajectory of your shot and instead of shooting the treacherous Coco through the eyes, your bullet instead flies right back at you and takes off the top half of your right ear. Roll for damage."

"Agh, damn it." Roland cursed as he grabbed his damage dice and half-heartedly rolled them on the table. After subtracting the sum from his remaining health pool, Roland found that he had zero hit points left. "I swear if dice are capable of emotion, these dice must feel nothing but hate for me." he muttered as he flicked his piece on its side, showing he was 'unconscious.

Yatsuhashi smiled as he cleared his throat for his 'storyteller voice'. "With all of her enemies unconscious before her, the newly crowned Empress Coco quickly established her rule. Wasting no time she not only had her enemies executed but, using her control over the creatures of grimm, she swept aside all who resisted her within her domain."

"Wow, hard to believe I caused a TPK." Coco commented with a self satisfied grin on her face. "Sorry about that guys."

"Well it certainly didn't help that you killed our healer when you decided to go mad with power." Teresa commented.

"Well it was the best way to cripple the group." Yuri muttered, "Once Velvet was gone, none of us could effectively heal ourselves."

"Speaking of, where is she?" Vincent asked glancing at the door to their dorm. "She should've been back by now. Oh and sorry for calling you a 'treacherous bitch' Coco."

"Eh, I deserved that one. Although I still say someone should've gone with Velvet to get the food." Coco said, " Enough food and drinks for eight people isn't exactly an easy thing to carry."

"This coming from the girl who had all us guys carry like a dozen bags of clothes in each arm." Roland challenged. "Besides, she said she wanted to make it up to us for dying so quickly."

"We should probably start making you guys some new characters." Yatsuhashi commented, "After all, now there's an evil empress to overthrow."

"Not gonna happen." Coco remarked, "I'm gonna be empress for all time."

Yatsuhashi smiled as he added, "Oh and this time please try to be more original than just playing as yourselves. Mix it up a bit."

"You guys go ahead and get started," Vincent told them all as he got out of his seat, "I'm gonna go see what's keeping Velvet."

* * *

' _Why can't they just leave me alone_.' Velvet wondered as she leaned against the wall and hugged her legs to her chest, tears streaming down her cheeks. Her rabbit ears throbbed painfully as she rested her forehead on her knees. The spilt contents of the drinks she had gotten for the group puddled just past her feet. She just wanted to just sit there long enough to collect herself before she returned to VTRY's dorm for the rest of their campaign. That had been her intent, but instead the faunus found that she couldn't quite get control of her emotions. So there she sat, for about an hour, crying over the actions of four.

Velvet raised her head when the sound of footsteps reached her ears. For a brief, horrible moment she feared that her tormentors were coming back, but she quickly realized that she only heard one set of feet instead of four.

"Velvet?" Vincent's voice reached her ears just as he rounded the corner. She quickly tried to dry her tears before the young Helsing saw her, but it was too late. He was at her side in an instant. Kneeling next to her, seemingly oblivious to the puddle around his feet and knee. "What happened?"

"N-nothing, I just slipped and accidentally spilled all the drinks." Velvet lied, hoping that Vincent would buy it.

"Velvet." was all he had to say to tell her that he wasn't.

"I-I ran into Penny and her team on my way back." she confessed, "They knocked the drinks out of my hand and stole the food I'd gotten for everyone."

"That's not everything, is it?" Vincent asked. Velvet nodded her head slowly. Vincent simply nodded along with her before he rose to his feet and held out his hand. "Well come on, you can explain on the way."

"On the way where?" Velvet asked as she was pulled to her feet.

"To the cafeteria." Vincent replied, a small smile on his face. "Pretty sure the others are going to start eating each other if they don't get something. I'll pay for it this time though."

"O-ok. Thanks." Velvet replied. She silently followed Vincent through the halls for a few minutes.

"So what else happened?" he asked, breaking the spell of silence that had fallen over them.

"I was on my way back with the food and drinks when they surrounded me." Velvet began, "It started out like it always does, with them telling me that I didn't belong here. That I should go back to Menagerie to be an animal with the rest of my kind. That's when Penny knocked the drinks out of my hands while Edith grabbed the food. They said I would get sick if I tried to eat _people_ food, and demanded that I thank them for sparing me the stomach ache."

Fresh tears fell down Velvet's cheeks as she stopped in her tracks and told Vincent everything PRDE had done and said to her, ending with Richard lifting her off the ground by her ears. Vincent just stood there, listening to every word. Embarrassed, Velvet reached across her body with her right arm and grabbed her left. She looked up to see Vincent looking directly at her. She had to stop herself from flinching backwards when he placed a hand on her shoulder. She was at a loss for words when he pulled her in closer and hugged her.

"Do you remember what I told you when we first met?" His voice was calm and comforting as Velvet returned his hug.

"Beacon only accepts the best of the best." Velvet replied, resting her chin on his shoulder.

"So the next time someone tells you that you don't belong here, I want you to remember that. You do belong here. Although, admittedly I'm starting to suspect that Penny and her ilk bribed their way in." The two of them shared a chuckle before Vincent asked, "Why didn't you tell anyone? You know you have friends that wouldn't stand for this right?"

"That's why I didn't tell you guys." Velvet confessed. "I didn't want you and the others to get into trouble because of me. Vincent, please don't tell Coco and the others."

Vincent said nothing as he released Velvet and held her at arm's length by her shoulders. She saw his emerald eyes harden as they bore into her and she briefly wondered exactly what it was he was looking for. Velvet looked into his eyes and she quickly watched his eyes soften greatly before a small smile appeared on his lips.

"Alright Velvet." he said softly, releasing his grip on her shoulders. "I won't tell the others."

"Thank you Vincent." Velvet said, grateful that she didn't have to worry about her friends getting in trouble.

"I want you to promise me something though." Vincent said as they continued walking to the cafeteria. "I want you to promise me that the next time PRDE, or anyone else for that matter, does anything like this, you come tell me."

"I promise Vincent. Thank you."

* * *

Vincent had kept his word. He'd promised Velvet that he wouldn't inform his or her teammates about her run in with PRDE over the weekend and he hadn't. When she had asked him not to tell, he had taken a long good look at her in order to determine one thing. Why?

If she was afraid that her bullies would seek her out as payback for turning them in then… well then consequences from Ozpin, Goodwitch, or any other teacher or authority be damned, VTRY and CFVY would see PRDE dead and fed to the grimm within the hour. But one look into her peaceful brown eyes was all it took for Vincent to see that fear for herself wasn't what prompted the question, but rather fear for her friends. So Vincent chose to honor her wishes.

That didn't mean however that he'd simply let the matter drop.

While he was sorely tempted to let PRDE's actions slip to Ozpin or Goodwitch… or Locke if he were feeling particularly vengeful, and he was. Vincent was taught that the best way to handle an issue was to do it oneself. To that end, he fostered his anger and rage until today. Now in Goodwitch's sparring class, would he mete out justice upon the wicked. His classmates all made their way to the stands while Vincent remained standing at the bottom.

"Do you have a question Mr. Helsing?" Professor Goodwitch asked, her stern gazed falling readily upon him.

"No ma'am." Vincent replied in his most respectful voice. "I just want to go first today."

"Very well." she replied, gesturing him for the ring. "Does anyone wish to spar with Mr. Hel…"

"Forgive me Professor," Vincent interrupted, "but if you don't mind, I already had an opponent in mind." Goodwitch glanced over to him before nodding her acceptance. Vincent thanked her before he turned his attention to the stands and pointed at the current target of his anger. "Richard Frost, I challenge you."


	10. Grudge Match

The class grew silent as Vincent's challenge hung in the air. A fair number of his classmates were looking at him like he was insane for challenging Richard Frost, the most aggressive fighter among the first years. Vincent ignored all of them, focusing on Richard as the bully rose from his seat and made his way down into the ring, to the cheers of his teammates.

Over the weekend Vincent had thought long and hard over which member of Team PRDE he'd vent his anger on. At first he'd thought of fighting Penny. She was the one who instigated the incident with Velvet, as well as Gregory Finch and several other faunus students. But she wasn't that much of a fighter, preferring to lead from the back rather than be in the thick of it. Both Edith and Delilah were better fighters than Penny and had said plenty of hurtful things to his friend, but they were only effective under Penny's guiding hand. Alone they were sloppy and easily distracted. Defeating any of them, while certain to be cathartic, wouldn't send the message Vincent wanted.

Vincent drew Daylight from its scabbard and inspected the blade's edge as Richard stepped into the ring, his aura glowing white around him as plates of ice began to form over his chest, shoulders and forearms. By the time Richard was in front of him, he was armored head to toe in ice, a six foot long steel spear held tightly in his hand.

"Should've brought a jacket Helsing." Richard threatened, "Because I'm about to bring the cold fury of winter down on you."

Vincent only smirked as he slid into his opening stance, Daylight held almost casually to his side. His refusal to rise to Richard's bait seemed to annoy the cryomancer, as he gripped his spear with both hands and pointed its six inch long bladed tip directly at Vincent's chest. When Professor Goodwitch began the match, both combatants reacted at once. Richard stabbed his spear forward just as Vincent stepped closer, his body turning to the side. The spear missed Vincent by centimeters as he slashed Daylight across Richard's frozen breastplate. The steel blade cut a long deep gash in the ice. Richard growled as he swung the back end of his spear at Vincent's head. Vincent ducked under the blow and countered with a swipe at Richard's knee.

Richard grunted in pain as his leg was forced out from under him. The bully fell to one knee as he used his spear to support himself. Vincent pounced on the opportunity to capitalize on his early advantage and struck at Richard's unprotected neck. The blow was caught by Richard's armoured forearm. Vincent smiled as he saw the icy bracer crack and shatter under Daylight's edge.

Roaring in anger Richard surged to his feet, grabbing hold of Vincent's shirt and throwing him across the ring. Vincent tumbled along the floor before rolling to his feet, his smile still in place. A quick glance at the monitor showed that while his aura had dropped ten percent, Richard's was down fifteen.

"So far so good." Vincent whispered to himself as he watched Richard charge at him again, spear leveled to take him in the gut.

* * *

"Well this is certainly going well." Roland commented as he, his teammates, and the members of Team CFVY watched Vincent's bout with Richard. "Three hits to Richard's one."

"Yeah but that one was equal to two of Vincent's" Coco pointed out, gesturing to the aura levels on the monitor.

"Maybe." Teresa said while watching Vincent land two more hits to Richard's armored form. "But I don't think Richard's going to get another hit in."

"Yeah probably not." Roland agreed, "To be honest I'm surprised that Vincent let him have that one."

"What do you mean, 'let him'?" Yatsuhashi asked.

"Vincent's semblance allows him to slow down his perception of time." Yuri explained, watching his leader duck and weave around Richard's spear. "This allows him more time to process what he's seeing and lets him react to it almost instantly."

"Which means that in order to actually hit him," Teresa added, "You either have to catch him by surprise, be as fast as Oobleck during a caffeine rush, shoot a literal wall of bullets at him, overwhelm him through sheer numbers, or he has to let you."

"So what you're saying is, Richard has no chance of winning this fight." Coco surmised.

Roland laughed as he looked directly into the eyes behind the leader of CFVY's sunglasses, "A snowball has a better chance in hell than that guy has against Vincent."

* * *

The music of steel ringing against steel echoed in Vincent's ears as he slapped away Richard's spear and sprang forward. His cut to Richard's thigh was blocked by the shaft of his weapon. Vincent smirked as he sidestepped Richard's counter stab and delivered a counter of his own, striking Richard's shoulder. The bully's ice armor cracked under Daylight's edge. Richard backed away from Vincent, his icy pauldron falling to the ground in chunks.

"You are starting to piss me off." Richard growled as the air around his shoulder froze to replace the armor he'd just lost.

"Well you've been pissing me off since day one at this place so I guess I've got some catching up to do." Vincent replied as he slowly approached Richard.

The bully roared a battle cry and charged forward, stabbing his spear at Vincent's chest. Vincent turned his body to slightly to the left, allowing the point of the spear to glide harmlessly past him. Before Richard could pull it back, Vincent grabbed onto the shaft with his free hand before cutting at Richard's unprotected wrist. Richard slid back, abandoning his weapon, a panicked look in his eyes. Vincent gave the spear in his hand a quick once over before tossing it back to Richard.

"Bit clunky for my tastes." Vincent declared as Richard caught his spear out of the air. "But it suits you well enough."

"What's this all about?" Richard asked as he started to circle around Vincent. "You claimed I've been pissing you off for months, so why are you only fighting me now?"

Vincent said nothing as he looked up in the stands and locked eyes with Velvet. While the his team seemed to be conversing with hers, she didn't seem to be participating. Her attention was focused on him, concern clear on her face. Vincent gave her a reassuring smile before returning his attention to Richard.

"You hurt my friend." he said just loud enough for Richard to hear. Vincent's free hand wrapped around the handle of Flare. "So now I'm going to hurt you." Richard scowled at Vincent's words, his grip on his spear tightening. "Unless you apologize, right now."

"Why would I apologize to a freak like her?" Richard growled as he slid forward, the floor underneath him freezing over. Vincent was moderately impressed with the flurry of stabs and strikes that Richard unleashed. The onslaught was never ending. Stabs turned to strikes which turned to slashes which turned back into stabs. Vincent was forced to keep Daylight in constant motion. The glittering arcs of his silver blade creating an impenetrable defense around him. It wasn't long however before Richard's assault began to die and he saw his moment arrive.

He caught a downward slash of Richard's spear with his blade. With his blade trapping the spear, Vincent kicked Richard's right knee out from under him, causing the bully to stumble. Vincent followed with two slashes across his chest, carving an X deep into the frozen armor. Richard swung his spear, hoping to catch him on his own chest, but Vincent leapt back, narrowly avoiding the thirsty tip of the weapon.

As Richard pulled his weapon back, he raised it up to cut off Daylight's descending arc. When Vincent felt his blade cease its downward momentum his left hand pulled Flare from its holster and pressed its three barrels against Richard's damaged breastplate. Richard had only a moment to realize what was about to happen before Vincent pulled the trigger completely, firing all three barrels at once. Richard flew backwards, his icy armor shattering as his aura flashed a bright white before disappearing completely. He landed on the floor with a thump as Goodwitch called the match. The students cheered as Vincent turned to glare Richard's teammates.

Penny, Delilah and Edith all glared back at him. Vincent held their glares a moment before he glanced over to Richard, still sprawled on his back. He left the bully lying there as he stepped out of the ring, his statement to Team PRDE clear.

* * *

Velvet breathed a sigh of relief as Vincent stepped out of the ring and made his way to the locker rooms, completely unhurt aside from some heavy breaths. She glanced up at the monitor and was surprised to see that according to it, his aura level was down to twenty percent.

' _Did he actually get hit? Is he hurt?_ ' Velvet wondered as Professor Goodwitch asked for two more students for another match. Velvet raised her hand.

"You wish to fight Miss Scarlatina?" the Professor asked.

"Actually I was wondering if I could use the restroom?" she clarified. Goodwitch nodded her assent and Velvet quickly made her way out of the stands as Roland stood.

"I'll have a go." he said causing Goodwitch to nod in approval. Velvet never saw who Roland's opponent would be as she left the room and quickly traveled down the hall. After a few moments she caught up with Vincent on his way to the locker rooms.

"Are you ok?" she asked, surprising the Helsing enough to leap high into the air. Velvet giggled as he landed and turned to face her, green eyes wide.

"Damn near gave me a heart attack Velvet." he breathed.

"Sorry, I just noticed your aura level was low and got worried that you'd been hurt." she explained, a small smile on her lips.

Vincent took another breath before he spoke again, "Oh that? Yeah I'm fine. My semblance just takes a lot out of me when I use it while fighting. It's good for taking notes, and in short bursts, but not exactly something to rely on in a prolonged fight. Not gonna lie, jerk almost had me a few times near the end there."

Velvet swallowed before she stepped forward and wrapped her arms around Vincent's torso. "Thank you." she whispered as she felt his arms wrap around her.

"Don't worry about it." he replied before they separated, "I'm sure you'd have done the same for me. Now if you'll excuse me, I gotta hit the showers. See ya later." Velvet smiled as she pulled out her camera and quickly snapped a picture of Vincent as he waved his goodbye. He blinked in surprise. "What's that for?"

"To help me remember." Velvet answered as she turned to return to Goodwitch's class.

"Remember what?" Vincent called out.

"That I owe you two now." She said with a smile. She heard Vincent chuckle before he went into the locker room for his shower.

* * *

Nero's breath came in short heavy bursts as he struggled to hold his axe ready for the next onslaught. Next to him his partner suffered a similar shortness of breath as the horde of grimm surrounded both of them. Off in the distance the abandoned castle the grimm were using as a nest towered over them all. Nero glanced over to his partner Cyan as she straightened her stance and shouldered her rifle.

"It's been an honor fighting alongside you, my friend." she whispered as she sighted the nearest beowolf and squeezed the trigger. The rifle's loud rapport echoed around them as the grimm's head was blasted apart. Nero flinched as he expected the grimm to surge all over them, devouring them and leaving no trace of their existence. But they never moved. In fact, the grimm had stopped moving altogether. Part of Nero wanted nothing more than to take advantage of the apparent stillness and cleave through as many grimm as he could before they came to their senses. Yet something held not just him, but also Cyan, in place.

Nero tightened his grip on his axe as the grimm in front of him parted, creating a pathway that lead directly to the dilapidated castle. That was when Nero saw him. A man strode through the mass of grimm, seemingly oblivious to their presence. His pale skin shone in the moonlight as his black hair billowed in the wind. He wore a black suit underneath a heavy leather cloak, the hilt of a rapier just barely visible.

"Who are you?" Nero called out, drawing Cyan's attention to the approaching stranger as well. "Identify yourself."

The stranger stopped, another ten feet separating them. At this distance Nero could make out the stranger's solid black eyes, coldly observing them. Despite the heavy wind blowing, his cloak remained perfectly still.

"You come to my home. Uninvited I must add." The stranger began, his deep accent was unfamiliar to Nero's ears. "You slaughter my pets, and you have the audacity to demand my name?" Out of the corner of his eye Nero saw Cyan perk up at the stranger's words.

"I'm Cyan Forester. This is my teammate Nero Rowan. We were sent here to take out a heavy infestation of grimm." She informed the stranger, her rifle resting in her arms, ready to be used in an instant.

"You stand before Drake Tepes, lord of this castle." The stranger, Drake, informed them. "I fear there must've been some kind of mistake. These grimm you see before you are my pets. Perfectly harmless, unless provoked." Drake then gave a sharp whistle, and all of the grimm surrounding them broke off and ran back to the castle. "I suggest you return to your masters. Inform them that the grimm are kept in line." As Drake turned to walk away, Nero thought back to the destroyed village they passed through.

"What about the village two miles west of here?" he called out. "The one that was slaughtered by your pets."

"They chose to rally into a mob and assault my home." Drake stated simply, as though commenting on the weather. "I am well within my rights to defend myself."

"Against the mob maybe." Cyan countered, her rifle aimed at Drake's chest. "But what of the women and children who stayed at home?"

"The women would've raised their children to hate and despise me as their fathers had. In time those children would've done the same as their fathers and suffered the same fate. I simply ended a future annoyance."

"You're a monster." Cyan spat.

"It is our duty as Huntsman and Huntress to protect the innocent and destroy monsters like you." Nero recited as his axe folded into his own rifle.

"I offer you this chance only once," Drake sighed, his right hand slowly drawing his rapier, "Leave now."

"Not until we destroy the evil that has taken root in this land." Cyan growled.

"Then you shall stay here forever." Drake informed them before charging forward.

* * *

 _AN: So I get to reveal two things with this chapter. Vincent's semblance, and finally get to meet our primary antagonist, Drake Tepes. So I actually have a bit of a dilemma in regards to the reveal of our villain. Should I have done it sooner or is here fine? Please feel free to let me know your thoughts on that and the story in general. I will gladly answer any questions that arise, sans spoilers, and as always I hope you enjoyed the chapter. See ya next time._


	11. Like Father, Like Son

" _Just breathe, nice and slow._ "

It had always been one of the more practical pieces of advice his pa had given. Stuck with a problem and can't figure out what to do? Just breathe, nice and slow, a solution will come. So stressed that your body won't obey your will and keeps on trembling? Just breathe, nice and slow, you'll calm yourself down. Target standing half a mile away and you only have one shot to take them out? Just breathe, nice and slow, your aim will improve.

Roland slowly inhaled and exhaled as the lukewarm water from the shower head washed away the sweat and grime from today's session with Mr. Locke. His muscles relaxed and the soreness in his jaw lessened greatly. There was nothing he could really do about the large purple bruise that covered a good chunk of his left side, but he was used to bruises. When he felt he was adequately cleaned, he shut the water off and reached for his towel. A quick rub down saw him dry enough to throw on his underwear, pants, and shirt.

Roland left the bathroom to find the dorm completely empty. Under normal circumstances, he would've been slightly annoyed that his teammates had ditched him while he was in the shower. As it was however, Roland only smiled as he limped over to his bed and dropped down onto the sheets in a graceless flop. He needed some time to decompress anyway.

" _You're no better than your father._ "

How the bloody hell could six simple words throw him for such a loop? He took another deep breath before he slowly exhaled and did what he had promised himself years ago, he would never do. He thought of the past.

His earliest memories were of the brutal training his pa had imposed on him. Hand to hand, marksmanship, knife fighting, his pa had taught him how to do just about everything. He was never good with the knife fighting, more than a few scars on his arms proved that, but he excelled at being a marksman. By the time he was ten, he could shoot the wings off a dragonfly without killing the insect. But apparently that wasn't enough for William Harker.

" _Bugs aren't dangerous. Nobody was ever ripped to shreds by swarm of locusts."_ Upon reflection, Roland came to the conclusion that his pa had never seen a swarm of angry hornets.

He sighed as he sat up from his bed, now fully aware of what had thrown him off. His pa was primarily two things. A deadly fighter, and a god forsaken asshole. Locke knew William Harker, which meant Locke had fought him, and more impressively had survived. When Locke said that he was no better than his pa, Roland couldn't figure out if he was insulting his fighting skill, or his character.

"Knowing him it's probably both." he muttered as his scroll vibrated on his desk. Roland scooped the device up and quickly read the text. "Roland, when you're done with your shower would you mind joining me in the library? I need your assistance with something. Teresa."

Despite the less than stellar day he'd been having, Roland smiled as he pulled on his boots, slipped into his duster, and threw on his hat. When a lady requests your help, it's often in your best interest to help her out.

* * *

" _Revolver Maintenance_ " was a tedious read to say the least, but Teresa felt it was the best place to start with upgrading Nebula's ammo capacity. She briefly skimmed through the pages, trying to make heads or tails of the terminology within. After a few minutes Teresa was able to say with complete and utter confidence that weaponsmithing of any sort was not a career path she should ever venture into.

"Did the lovely Miss Belmonte call for a rescue?" Roland slid into the seat across from her, a smile on his lips and mischief in his steel colored eyes.

"You built your revolvers right?"

"Well my pa made them for me, but he made sure that I knew how to keep them in fine working order, and I've added my own modifications myself. Why do you ask?"

Teresa unclipped Nebula from her belt and placed it on the table in front of Roland. "I want to upgrade the gun inside the handle. Right now it only carries a single shot."

"Alright, how many shots do you want it to have?" Roland took Nebula in his hand and cracked open the handle, revealing the inner mechanisms. Teresa said nothing as she pulled an eight chambered cylinder from her bag and placed it on the table. Roland picked the cylinder up and carefully examined it before looking back to Nebula, a small frown etched on his face.

"Is there a problem?"

"Not so much a problem, as much as a… snag." Roland pointed at the firing chamber in Nebula, "This thing was built to only house this chamber. You can't just swap it out."

"So it can't be upgraded?" Teresa asked.

"I wouldn't say that." Roland said, closing up the whip's handle. "Instead of upgrading the handle, I'm just going to have to build…" Teresa raised an eyebrow as Roland trailed off, his head turning from side to side. "Where are Vincent and Yuri?"

"Oh, they went down to Vale with Coco and her team." Teresa smiled as she remembered the expressions on her teammate's faces.

"What did Coco have to promise to get them to agree to that?"

"She said she would treat them to…"

BANG!

Teresa flinched at the sound and instinctively wrapped her hand around Nebula's handle as she rose to her feet. Without pausing, she moved through the library, following the sound of the disturbance. When she rounded a corner, she was greeted by the sight of two second year students wrestling on the ground. Noire had Sky pinned underneath her and was trying to get through his arms to attack his face.

"Go find a teacher. I'll see if I can break them apart." Roland said as soon as he turned the corner and saw the fight. By now other students were starting to crowd around the two fighters, some cheered them on while others tried to tell them to stop.

"Alright, be careful." With a practiced hand Teresa rapidly coiled the cord of Nebula up before she hooked the whip to her belt as she turned on her heel and ran for the door. She sprinted through the halls for around two minutes before she came across Dr. Oobleck, sipping his coffee from his thermos.

"Ah Miss Belmonte. Did you have a question about your homework?" the green haired teacher asked in his trademarked rapid speech.

"Dr. Oobleck… there's a fight… in the library." Teresa pointed in the library's direction. Oobleck's expression immediately changed as he screwed the lid on his thermos and told her to lead the way.

The library was quiet by the time Teresa had lead Oobleck to the location of the fight.

' _Did Roland manage to break it up?'_ Teresa wondered as she and Oobleck rounded the corner. She gasped at what she saw.

"Mr. Harker? What have you done?" Oobleck demanded, taking a step forward.

Before them Roland stood over the beaten and bruised body of Noire. Blood leaked from his nose as he breathed in and out, slowly, his steel gray eyes glaring down at the bloodied girl. Splintered chunks of wood surrounded the two of them and Teresa noted that one of the desks was missing.

When Oobleck's words reached him, Roland blinked rapidly before a look of guilt washed over his face. Without a word Roland turned and ran.

"Roland wait." Teresa ran after her teammate as Oobleck moved to scoop Noire into his arms and carry her to the hospital.

* * *

"Roland, would you please just tell me what happened?" Teresa begged as she trailed behind Roland, who was doing his best to ignore her. It wasn't working.

"Fine! You want to know what happened!" Roland's shouts stopped not only her but several other students who happened to be in the area. When he spoke again his voice was only loud enough for Teresa to hear. "I pulled Noire off of Sky, she took a swing at me and hit me in the nose. So I beat the ever loving shit out of her." There was a brief pause before he whispered, "That goddamned son of a bitch was right."

"Roland what are you talking about? Who was right about what?"

"Locke. That bastard told me that I was no better than my pa, and he's right," Roland's hands curled so tightly into fists that Teresa was afraid that his nails would cut into his palm. "My old man is not a good person Teresa. I had every opportunity to leave him growing up, but I never did. After he kicked me out, I could've gone anywhere. I could've gotten a ticket to Atlas to try and find my mother. What do I do instead? I hang around Vacuo and spend two years doing anything for anyone who promised me a cut of the loot."

"Roland I… I had no idea." She reached hesitantly out to touch Roland's shoulder but the glare he gave her forced her to pull her hand back.

"That's because my life wasn't exactly something I was interested in discussing over a goddamned party game Teresa. When Ozpin offered me a place here, I thought I could finally start to turn my life around, but before the first semester is finished..." Roland just gestured back to the library.

"That wasn't your fault Roland. You didn't start that fight."

"But I didn't have to escalate it! I could've just walked away. I should've just walked away." Roland looked up at the academy's tall towers, sure that word of his actions had already reached Ozpin's ears. He expected to see Professor Goodwitch marching toward him with that stern glare of hers any moment now.

His time at Beacon was over.

"I'm done." he whispered.

"What?" Teresa blinked, "What do you mean?"

"Tell the others I said goodbye Teresa." Roland said before he turned around and sprinted for the bullheads.

"Roland, wait!" Teresa started after him again but the last ten minutes of solid sprinting had worn her down. She stumbled as fell to her knees. "Please don't go!" she cried out as she watched the aircraft he'd hopped onto take off.

* * *

 _AN: It's a shorter chapter but I think it's my favorite one so far. Vincent may have been the first character I thought of for this series but Roland is definitely my favorite. Don't worry this won't be the last we see of the gunslinger, although his time at Beacon seems to be coming to a close. As always I hope you lot enjoyed the chapter, feel free to leave a review or to ask any questions you have. I'll see you all later._


	12. The Search

"I didn't know your family owned a shop in the city Vincent." Yuri commented as he spotted a sign that read ' _Helsing's Apothecary'_ hanging over the glass door of the store. Upon hearing this the entirety of Team CFVY all looked to the storefront Yuri had indicated.

"It's not the family's shop," Vincent corrected, a small smile on his face as he eyed the store from across the street. "Verte made it perfectly clear when he set up that the shop was his and his alone."

"Aww, so no family discounts for you then?" Coco teased, lowering her sunglasses to give the Helsing a quick wink.

"Nope. Gotta pay full price for everything. Really pisses our sister Violet off." Vincent smile widened as he gestured to the store, "Did you guys want to go in?"

"Sure." Coco answered for her team.

"I'll admit I've been wanting to meet your family for awhile now," Yuri said as the group started for the apothecary. "Shame that Terri and Roland aren't here as well."

"Well there's always next time." Vincent pushed the door open, a small bell ringing to alert any occupants of their entrance.

"Be right out with you." a voice called out from the back of the shop, "Feel free to look around but don't touch anything."

"Shouldn't you have someone to watch the front while you're back there?" Vincent called back. The six teens immediately heard something, likely a potted plant, shatter on the floor as Verte Helsing emerged from a curtain behind the counter. Vincent's brother wore a thick beige coat over a green flannel shirt and khaki brown pants. Heavy goggles hung around his neck and a pair of tailored work gloves were sticking out of one of the coat pockets. His hair was slightly redder than Vincent's and his eyes were a lighter shade of green

"Vin!" The older Helsing vaulted over the counter, knocking several other potted plants on the floor and lifting his brother off the ground with, Yuri had to admit, a rather respectable bear hug.

"Ver… please…" Vincent struggled to get a word out as his brother tightened his hug even further while he spun him around, knocking still more of his plants off their shelves. Yuri and the others couldn't help but chuckle at the spectacle the elder of the two Helsings was making.

"It's good to see you again bro." Verte finally put Vincent back on the ground and looked to the others who'd entered his shop. "And I see you've brought your friends along. It's a pleasure to meet all of you. Dr. Verte Helsing at your service."

Yuri shook the elder Helsing's hand as his leader introduced him and CFVY. Verte's smile never left his face as he went down the line.

"You kids want to see something cool?" he asked once the introductions were out of the way.

* * *

As soon as his brother's friends nodded in response to his question, Verte locked the door to his shop and flipped the open sign to closed.

"Follow me." Verte led them through the curtain that separated the storefront from his workshop in the back.

"What about the plant's you knocked over?" the bunny faunus asked gesturing to the mess Verte had knocked on the floor.

"Oh right. Thanks for reminding me Velvet," Verte said as he waved his hand across the storefront. At once the various plants and herbs all began to crawl across the floor with their roots. The five teens who hadn't grown up with him watched with fascination as the plants planted themselves into the empty pots that were waiting for them.

"I'll sweep up the mess later." Verte gestured for the students to follow him again. "So, what has Vin told you guys about me?" Verte asked as he lead them through the maze of shelves that contained his more exotic products.

It was the tallest member of CFVY, Yatsuhashi, who spoke up. "He told us you were one of Remnant's leading botanists and…"

"Whoa, whoa, hold up." Verte stopped in his tracks and spun to glare at his little brother. "What do you mean ' _one'_ of? Name one other botanist who can do half the things I can?"

Vincent's response was automatic "Well there's Mint Den…"

"We do not speak that name in this shop," Verte interrupted, his finger pointed at his brother. "Woman thinks she's hot shit because she discovered a new species of flower in the Atlesian Mountains. Well let me tell you something dear little brother. By the time I'm done with my project, Miss Denault and her little mountain flower will be lucky to become a footnote in the history of botany." Verte took a deep breath to calm himself down before he apologized for his outburst, opting to ignore the smug grin on Vin's face.

Verte said nothing else as he led them to a heavy steel door. After taking a moment to remember the access code he quickly pressed the appropriate buttons and turned the handle as soon as the lock was disengaged.

"Now, what I'm about to show you has been my project for the last three years." He explained as the door swung open with a faint creak. "It's passed every test I had set for it and I was about to initiate the final one when you walked in. So I guess this is your lucky day, because you children are about to witness history."

It was at that moment that Vincent's scroll started ringing. Knocked from his presentation, Verte waited patiently as his brother extracted the device from his pocket.

"It's Terri," he explained as he answered, "Hey what's…" Verte frowned as Vincent's expression went from light and calm, to serious in the span of a second.

"What's wrong?" Yuri asked only to be silenced by Vincent's raised hand.

"We're at my brother's shop right now. Where are you?" As Vincent's question was being answered Verte took the opportunity to shut the door to his lab and reengaged the locks. "Alright we'll meet you at the port and… Are you sure? Ok we'll start looking immediately. Good luck."

"What's wrong?" Yuri repeated as Vincent shoved his scroll back into his pocket.

"Something happened at Beacon. Roland's run off."

* * *

" _He's in here," the guard stated as he unlocked the cell door. Ozpin said nothing as his escort pried the heavy iron door open, he merely sipped his coffee. When the guard moved to pull out his baton, Ozpin gently tapped the floor with his cane to get his attention._

" _You can wait outside," he told the guard, "I would like to speak to the young man alone."_

" _I can't let you take the cane or the mug in there," the guard said, "Little bastard might try and take them from you to use as weapons."_

" _He's certainly welcome to try." Ozpin strolled past his escort, still holding his cane in one hand and his mug in the other. "Such an act would prove most enlightening. Feel free to lock the door behind me though, seeing as you're so concerned about security."_

 _The silver haired man couldn't quite make out what the guard muttered under his breath as he shut the door but guessed that it wasn't very complimentary. After deciding that the guard's misgivings weren't important Ozpin focused his attention on the cell's sole occupant._

 _Roland Harker didn't look particularly dangerous, but then again the truly dangerous ones never did. He was young, only sixteen years old if his source was correct, lean, and overall not very impressive looking in any regard. His long sleeve grey shirt was wrinkled and the left sleeve had been torn off at the elbow, his blue jeans were dirty and torn, brown boots were worn and scuffed._

 _The boy also bore the scars from the rather recent brawl he'd just participated in, including a bruised cheek, bloodied lip, and a cut above his right eye that hadn't been stitched up._

 _Really the only physical thing Ozpin found to be noteworthy about him were his eyes. Steel gray, almost silver, orbs that seemed to be boring into Ozpin's very being._

" _Surprised they actually let you come in to see me," Roland muttered to himself as he sat down on the dirty cot that had been provided for him. "So who the hell are you?"_

" _I'm Professor Ozpin, Headmaster of Beacon Academy."_

" _Roland Harker," the young prisoner introduced himself. "Beacon eh? You're a long way from home. What brings such an important man to my humble cell in Vacuo?"_

" _Well you're straight to the point."_

" _And you're stalling."_

 _Ozpin smiled at the young man's comment, "Yes I suppose I am. Very well, I'll get right to it then. I'm here to offer you a place at Beacon Academy."_

 _There was a long pause as Ozpin's words hung in the air. While Roland gave no outside indication that he'd even heard Ozpin's offer, the wheels were certainly turning inside the young man's mind._

" _What's the catch?" he finally asked._

" _Catch?" Ozpin repeated._

" _You travel all the way from Vale to the middle of nowhere Vacuo. Show up in my cell, the day after I'm arrested for a brawl in a bar, and offer me a spot at one of the most prestigious huntsmen academies. Without me taking any sort of aptitude tests to see if I would be even eligible to attend. Pardon me for saying so Professor, but something about this scenario just doesn't add up for me. So I'll ask again, what's the catch?"_

' _You've trained this child well, William, damn you.' Ozpin thought before he responded verbally. "Yes, it's true that what I'm doing right now is unorthodox to say the least. But your circumstances aren't exactly what one would call normal, now, are they? Tell me, what have you done in the two years since you left your father?"_

 _Roland was silent on the matter, which told Ozpin everything he needed to know. Nothing, or at least nothing that mattered._

" _I'm here to offer you a chance. A chance to leave all of this behind you and to start over. You have the potential in you to be great Roland. To be a better man than your father. I simply want to give you that chance. In the end it's your choice. You'll be released from this facility regardless. I don't want you to think I'm holding your freedom hostage after all."_

 _Roland was silent for a few minutes as he seemed to consider Ozpin's offer. The silver haired headmaster watched the young man take a few slow and deep breaths before he smiled._

" _When's the semester start?"_

* * *

Ozpin downed a large gulp of his coffee as the memory of his first meeting with Roland Harker played out in his head. He could scarcely believe his ears when he'd gotten the call that Roland had brutalized another student and put them in the hospital. Followed almost immediately by the news that said student had hijacked a bullhead airship and had flown it down to the city.

Now Ozpin stood in his office, waiting for the footage of the library fight to be sent to his monitor, for Noire's medical diagnosis, for word from Glynda about the young Harker's whereabouts, waiting for the next bit of news that would determine the next turn the day would take. The headmaster of Beacon Academy could do nothing but wait and hope that the next thing he heard was good news.

* * *

' _Come on Roland, where the hell did you run off to?_ '

The thought repeated over and over in Teresa's head as she raced through the streets of Vale, ducking and weaving through crowds of confused citizens. She paid their confused or angry cries no mind as she focused on locating her fleeing teammate.

She had informed Vincent of the incident as soon as Roland had taken off in his stolen airship in the hopes that they could intercept him at the port within the city. That was just a little over six hours ago.

As it turns out Roland is quite capable of overriding the autopilot and actually piloting a bullhead with relative ease. Which meant that he could land anywhere he wanted within the city. The only reason Teresa had felt that Roland was still in Vale at all was the hope that he would want to ditch the traceable bullhead as soon as possible for a mode of transportation that couldn't be followed.

It was for that reason that the remainder of VTRY, the whole of CFVY, and even Vincent's older brother were spread all over the city, each one as determined as the others to find Roland. It was why Teresa found herself searching through every conceivable bar, cantina, and pub in city, hoping to just catch a glimpse of her gunslinging teammate's familiar brown duster and hat. It would be all she needed.

So far she'd had no such luck.

Teresa slowed her mad scramble through the city as she pondered more places to search, vainly trying to think of any place she might've missed or skipped over. Trying to recall if there had been somewhere Roland mentioned that he wanted to visit. Anything to push away the niggling thoughts that he may have already left the city.

"Excuse me, do you need help miss?"

Teresa flinched as she spun around and found herself face to face with a man she didn't recognize. The man had a plain face and wore plain clothing. He offered a half smile as he apologized for surprising her and repeated the question.

"I'm… I'm looking for my friend," Teresa stuttered, still shaking off the surprise of the stanger's sudden arrival. Once she regained her composure, the stranger nodded before he gestured for her to continue. "His name's Roland. He…" a small smile graced her lips, "looks like he just stepped out of a Vacuan Western. Have you seen him?"

The stranger's smiled widened at her description of her missing friend and Teresa saw a flash of recognition in his brown eyes. "I think I saw your friend at a bar downtown, near the warehouse district. I can take you there if you'd like."

"Of course! Lead the way," she said without hesitation.

"My name is Robert," the man said, extending his hand for her.

* * *

"Odd place for a bar," Teresa commented as she and Robert walked down a line of open warehouses, each filled with stacks upon stacks of crates.

"Guy who owns it wanted a place that was out of the way." Robert explained, "No one around here to complain when the place gets noisy."

"Fair enough." Teresa admitted as they stopped in front of the only closed warehouse. Robert stepped toward the closed door and knocked a short rhythm.

"Password." a gruff voice called out.

"Come on Freddy, you should know me by now. Just let me in." Robert complained.

"Password." the voice repeated, prompting an annoyed eye roll from Robert who looked apologetically at Teresa. Upon hearing the voice a second time Teresa noted that something about it seemed off.

"I reap what I sow." Robert responded. The slider immediately slid shut before Teresa heard several locks being undone. After a moment the door opened up and Robert beckoned Teresa inside.

"Roland!" Teresa called as she stepped past the threshold. Her voice echoed across an empty warehouse. Confused Teresa turned around to see Robert step inside and shut the door behind him. "Robert what's going on?"

The man simply smiled at her as his hand slid the lock in place. That was when Teresa spotted the speaker attached to the door. In that instant Teresa understood that Robert had deceived her.

"I'm such an idiot," she scolded herself as her hand drifted towards Nebula at her waist.

"Now, now dear, you mustn't be too hard on yourself." Robert sauntered forward, his smile growing wider. "There will be plenty of time for that later."

With that Robert lunged forward, hand outstretched to wrap around Teresa's throat.

* * *

 **AN:** Hello again everyone and Happy New Years. As always I hope you guys enjoy the chapter and feel free to leave any reviews or thoughts. Hope you guys have a great 2018 and I'll see you in Chapter 13


	13. Strife

With reflexes honed from years of training, Teresa easily sidestepped Robert's lunge while wrapping Nebula's cord around the man's ankle with a simple flick of her wrist. Robert had only a moment to recognize what happened before he was pulled off balance. Teresa followed up with a swift kick across his face. Robert's head snapped back as he fell to the floor. With her attacker sprawled on the ground, Teresa took the opportunity to give the man a few more kicks to the ribs.

After the third kick, she noticed his one of his hands reaching for her ankle. Quickly Teresa stepped away from him while bringing Nebula to bear once more. The cord wrapped around Robert's forearm and Teresa, using her aura to enhance her strength, gave the whip a sharp tug. Robert was yanked from where he lay and flung across the warehouse. Her assailant rolled across the floor before he slid to stop.

"I knew from the moment I saw you that you and I were going to have some fun," Robert laughed, as he hauled himself to his feet. Teresa watched Robert pull two small cylinders from his belt that extended into sparking, metal batons.

Teresa considered just opening a portal outside the warehouse, but quickly disregarded the idea.

' _I can't just leave him free to walk the streets.'_ She told herself as she adjusted her grip on Nebula. ' _He'll just lure someone else into a trap like this and they may not be able to fight him off like I can.'_

"You're going to regret lying to me Robert." Teresa gave Nebula a quick swing, snapping the whip's cord directly at the man's face. With surprising speed Robert sidestepped the cracking whip and rushed forward. Teresa ducked under the first horizontal swing, the faint sizzle of electricity reaching her ears, and rolled to the side to avoid the second downward one. Upon regaining her feet Teresa swung Nebula around her in a wide circle forcing Robert to step away from her in order to avoid getting wrapped up by the cord. Teresa scowled as she noticed that Robert still had that smile on his face. That damned smile that promised pain and suffering.

"You've got quite a bit of fight in you. That's good. Makes it more interesting." Robert feinted toward her right before striking for her left leg. Teresa made no move to avoid the attack, instead opening a portal just in front her attacker. Unprepared, Robert stumbled through the portal and found himself falling from the second portal that opened up at the ceiling. Teresa couldn't help but smirk when she heard Robert's surprised yelp as he dropped to the floor and landed in a heap. The smirk vanished however when she heard the man laugh. "So much more interesting."

"I'm just getting started," Teresa said as Robert rolled to his feet. She snapped Nebula outward, aiming for Robert's right hand. Any triumph she felt upon seeing her whip wrap around his forearm died down when she saw his smile widen. The two of them pulled their arms back, forcing Nebula's cord to go taut between them.

"As much fun as this little engagement of ours has been, dear," Robert said as he took a single step forward, using his left arm to wrap the whip around his torso as he did so. "I'm afraid it, like all good things, must come to an end." Another step, another bit of Nebula's length wrapping around him, keeping the line taut. "And since you were kind enough to show me your semblance, it seems only fair that I show you mine."

"That's not gonna happen, you creep." Teresa muttered as her thumb hovered over the button that would release the blades stored within Nebula's cord. With the whip wrapped around him so much, Teresa was sure that this would end the fight.

Pain suddenly erupted in Teresa's head, her hands shot up to cradle her head as she stumbled back, her whip falling forgotten on the floor. She was faintly aware of Robert saying something as her vision went black. The last thing she heard before unconsciousness fell over her was the ringing of her scroll.

* * *

"She's still not answering her scroll." Yuri looked up from his scroll to the group that had reassembled at Verte's apothecary. After seven hours of fruitless searching everyone had decided it might be a good idea to regroup at Verte's shop. So far only the Helsing brothers and Teresa hadn't come back yet. The Helsings were about a block away, but Yuri hadn't been able to reach Teresa for the last hour.

"That's not like her," Coco muttered as she checked her own scroll to see if she'd missed a message from their friend. The other members of CFVY could only offer Yuri consoling looks as the large faunus began to pace behind the counter. On its own, Teresa not answering her scroll wouldn't have worried the group that much. However, the fact that none of them had heard anything from the Belmonte at all since her call over seven hours ago had all of them worrying for her well being.

The group all turned at the sound of the ringing bell, hopeful that Teresa was walking through the door. It was impossible for them to hide their disappointment when Vincent and Verte entered instead. The brothers nodded in acknowledgment of the group's greetings, but otherwise said nothing as they settled into the circle of people.

"Terri's not here yet?" Vincent asked, looking around the room for his partner.

"We've been trying to reach her for awhile now," Coco informed him as she tossed her scroll onto the counter after another failed attempt to reach Teresa. She glanced over to Yuri who was still pacing behind the counter. "We're starting to worry."

"I'm well past _starting_ to worry!" Yuri retorted.

"Yuri, please, try to relax." Yatsuhashi said in his calmest voice.

"How can I possibly relax? It was bad enough when it was just Roland who ran off, but Teresa's missing too now, and nobody has a damned clue on how to find either of them!" Yuri turned and very briefly considered putting his fist through the wall in front of him.

He turned back around when he felt a hand press down on his shoulder. Velvet stared up into Yuri's amber eyes. "Don't worry, we'll find them," she said calmly. " _Both_ of them."

Slowly, Yuri nodded as he exhaled a breath he wasn't even aware he was holding. "Right. Thank you, Velvet." he looked over to Yatsuhashi. "I'm sorry, I just…"

"There's no need to apologize, my friend."

"We need to get back out there before it gets too dark to search," Coco stated.

"We should search in pairs," Vincent suggested, "Don't want anyone else to go missing."

"Good idea," Coco agreed, "We'll each search a fourth of the city. Velvet and Fox will take the southern quarter. Vincent and Yatsuhashi will take the north. Yuri and I'll take the west. Verte and..." she paused as she realized they'd run out of pairs.

"I can take the east by myself," Verte said. "I know this city better than any of you, after all."

Yuri and the others all nodded their agreement to Coco's plan as she threw the door open, "Alright, let's get out there and bring our friends home."

* * *

As Teresa regained consciousness, the first thing she became aware of was the fact that her head felt like it had been split down the middle. In addition to that her vision was blurred slightly and she was faintly aware of sound off in the distance that she couldn't quite recognize. All in all it reminded her of the first time she'd ever gotten a hangover, only about a thousand times worse. She tried to rub the blurriness out of her eyes, but found that she was unable mover her arms. That's when she realized that they were bound together above her.

"W-What…?" she mumbled quietly.

"Oh good, you're awake!" someone familiar said. Teresa heard the sound of shoes scuffling over concrete as she struggled to fully awaken. "We can begin now."

Before Teresa could ask the voice what it was talking about, ice cold water was thrown all over her. The freezing water washing over her body shocked her completely awake. Now that the grogginess was gone, Teresa remembered her dire situation.

Robert stood before her, an empty bucket in his hands and his smile wide as ever.

"What the hell are you doing?" Teresa shouted as she struggled to back away from her captor. To her annoyance, her feet were bound together the same as her hands. She pulled against her bonds, trying to leverage as much of her strength as she could to free herself. All she succeeded in doing however was whipping her soaked hair over her face.

"Just getting you ready for round one, dearie." Robert informed her, tossing his now empty bucket to the side.

"What are you talking about?" she demanded, "Round one of what?"

"Why this, of course." Robert plucked his two crackling batons from his belt and gently touched them together. The two batons exploded apart with an audible discharge of energy, and Robert's smile grew ever wider. "The two of us are gonna play a little game, you see."

Teresa felt her body go completely rigid as Robert pressed the batons to her stomach. Pain exploded from the points of contact as Teresa tossed her head back in a wordless cry. An eternity later, the pain finally began to subside as the batons were pulled away. Teresa's body slumped down as far as her bonds would allow as she fought for breath.

"That was five seconds," Robert explained as he started to slowly circle around his prisoner. "The way the game works is very simple. I hurt you, really badly…" whatever words Robert said next were drowned out by Teresa's agonized cries as Robert pressed one of the batons to the small of her back. Her nervous system felt like it was on fire as her captor held the baton against her back even longer than the last time, all the while explaining the "rules" of his twisted game.

When the baton was finally removed, Teresa became aware of the warm taste of iron in her mouth. She'd bitten into her tongue. "Right now the current record holder made it all the way up to forty five seconds before her heart finally gave out. I wonder if you can beat her."

It took a herculean effort of will to look up and see Robert's cruel smile gazing down at her. Mustering all of her strength, Teresa gathered as much blood as she could into her mouth before she spat in his face.

"Go fuck yourself." Her voice was hoarse, barely able to get the words out. Robert simply stared at her as her blood dribbled down his chin.

"Looks like I've got myself a contender."

* * *

"You're nervous, is there something on your mind Coco?"

The question had caught her off guard. A half hour into their second round of searching and Yuri hadn't so much as uttered a syllable as the two of them searched every nook and cranny of their assigned quarter of the city. In truth the silence was starting grate on her nerves and she was trying to find something, anything to say to end it.

She was about to ask him how he knew when she remembered Yuri's semblance gave him a certain insight to people's emotional state. Slowly, Coco took a deep breath to calm her nerves before she spoke.

"How are you doing Yuri? You were pretty wound up at the shop earlier."

"I'm… I'm fine Coco," Yuri answered, running his fingers through his hair. "I'm just…"

"Yeah, I'm worried about them too, but I know we'll find them." Coco reached out and put her hand on his shoulder. Yuri simply nodded in response as he pressed onward. She huffed as she watched the seven foot faunus turn the street corner, "Hey Yuri." she sped up to catch her companion, "Tell me about where you grew up."

"What brought that up?" Yuri asked.

"Just trying to get to know you better." Coco replied, trying to give her warmest smile. While it was true that she wanted to get to know Yuri better, she was mostly hoping that talking about his home would help him relax a bit. The look he gave her told her in no uncertain terms that he was aware of what she was trying to do. "Come on, we've been friends for awhile now and I barely know a thing about you."

Yuri was silent for a few moments and Coco was afraid that he was done with talking before he spoke up.

"I grew up in Kasha, it's a small village, only about two hundred people, on the outskirts of Menagerie's desert. The days are long and hot, the nights short and freezing, but it's still home. My mother runs the bakery, my little sister helps her, and my father works as a desert hunter."

"Is that like a huntsman? Does he keep Kasha safe from grimm?"

"Not quite, while they do help defend the village, fighting the grimm isn't what the desert hunters are for. A desert hunter goes out into the desert to bring back food and water. They're vital for the survival of Kasha. I was going to be one of them before I decided to come here."

"What made you change your mind?"

"About three years ago, we received some visitors. A nearby village, never learned the name, had been attacked by a horde of grimm. The village's defences were overrun and the villagers were forced to flee. Fortunately we were close enough for them to reach before the desert was able to kill them off."

Coco frowned as Yuri told her how ragged the refugees looked, despite the relatively short distance between villages, "How many were lost?"

"Less than you'd think," Yuri answered with a shrug. "You see, a huntress happened to be staying in the village at the time of the attack. She managed to hold the grimm at bay long enough for the villagers to escape. Hearing those villagers talk about how this one woman slew grimm by the dozens while they fled convinced me that Kasha didn't need another desert hunter. It needed a huntsman. That night I approached the huntress and asked her how I could become a huntsman. She took me on as an apprentice until I was old enough to apply to an academy. The rest is history."

"How did your family react to your decision?"

"My mother and father were supportive of my choice, but Katia, my little sister, wasn't too thrilled about the idea that I would be gone for at least four years."

"How old is she?" Coco asked, noting the smile Yuri wore as mentioned his sister.

"She'll be ten next month. I still gotta find something for her birthday."

"Well let me know if you need any help with that."

"Sure thing Coco, you'll be the first to know. So what about you? What was…" The rest of Yuri's question was cut off by the beeping of his scroll. Coco was impressed with how quickly Yuri had the thing out of his pocket.

"Is it from one of the others? Is it from Terri?" Coco asked, an all too familiar pit forming in her stomach. Yuri said nothing, only turning his scroll around so Coco could read the text.

 _Return to Beacon. Now._

 _R._

* * *

Teresa's lungs burned as she struggled to draw in a breath. A faint whimper escaped her lips as Robert pulled the electric batons away.

"Seventy seconds!" he crowed as he circled around her, "That is very impressive little huntress. I'm not gonna lie, I thought your heart would've given out by now." Teresa groaned as she tried to get her feet underneath her to take her weight off of her arms. Her legs gave out instantly, her throat so ragged that she couldn't even cry out in pain.

"Not much fight left in you is there?" Robert stepped forward, slowly inching an electric baton toward her chest. "Let's see how you handle seventy-five seconds."

Unable to muster the strength to even try and back away, Teresa closed her eyes and waited for the pain to begin again. When the electrical shocks didn't begin she forced her eyes open again to see Robert, his smile replaced with a look of irritation, holding the baton an inch away from her sternum,. Teresa could feel the electricity trying to leap the small gap to her body before the baton was pulled away.

"You know what?" Robert asked as he collapsed the batons and hooked them onto his belt. "This just isn't fun anymore."

Teresa's eyes drooped close once again as her head hung low.

CRACK!

Teresa's eyes snapped open with the familiar crack of Nebula's cord. Robert stood in front of her, the whip she had used for so long it was more an extension of her arm than it was a weapon, held tightly in his hand. A low growl rumbled in Teresa's throat as she tore against her bindings. Her wrists and arms felt like they were being torn apart at the joints but she pulled against them all the same.

"Oh wow," Robert glanced over to her while giving Nebula another test swing, the whip crack echoing throughout the empty warehouse. "Guess you have more fight left in you than I thought. That's good."

Slowly, her captor circled around her, the snapping of Nebula's cord becoming louder and louder with every other step, until it suddenly stopped. A pregnant silence filled the warehouse as Teresa's strength left her. Her breathing turned heavy, her vision blurred as she struggled to stay conscious.

Her struggles proved to be in vain as the black laid claim to her once again, just as the door was blown off its hinges.

* * *

Robert quickly backed away from Teresa's unconscious form as the door skidded across the floor. The girl's whip falling to the ground as he hastily raised his hands above his head. The intruder stalked forward, smoking revolvers held tightly in his hand, his almost silver eyes scanning the empty warehouse, before focusing on Teresa and Robert.

"You must be Roland." Robert said, looking the boy up and down, trying not to laugh at the kid's cowboy costume. "Huh, the girl wasn't kidding. You really do look like…"

Before he could get another word out, Robert found himself flying backwards, pain lancing through his chest where the bullet had slammed into him.

"It's gonna be alright Teresa," Roland whispered as Robert rolled to his side, his aura already repairing the damage the boy's bullet had done. "I'm going to get you out of here." Slowly, Robert pushed himself upright.

' _Looks like someone wants to play hero.'_ Robert smiled as he watched Roland working on the girl's restraints. Step by step Robert stalked behind Roland, his hands wrapping around the handles of his batons. Patiently, Robert waited as Roland gently set Teresa on the ground. Seeing his opportunity Robert lunged forward, his batons extending to their full length as he swung them down.

Roland spun around on the balls of his feet, a revolver already in his hand. Robert had just enough time to bring his aura to bear before the gun flashed and he felt the bullet impact on his stomach. With his aura taking the brunt of the shot, Robert found himself only sliding back a few inches as opposed to being put flat on his back again. Seeing Roland take aim with his second pistol, Robert stepped to the side, narrowly avoiding taking another shot to his chest.

Before Roland could get off another shot Robert surged forward, his sparking batons arcing together in a swing. Roland backed away from the attack and ducked under the follow up. Robert grinned, lifting his knee into his ducking opponent's face. As Roland stumbled backwards, Robert lunged forward, stabbing one of his batons at his opponents chest. Roland sidestepped the stab and kicked at Robert's wrist, knocking the baton from his hand. Robert lashed out with his other baton, catching Roland on his shoulder.

Roland cried out in pain as his hand spasmed, dropping the pistol to the floor. Before he could bring the baton around for another swing, Roland tackled him to the ground, the baton falling from his grip.

"How did you find me?" Robert asked as he tried to wrestle Roland's remaining pistol from his grip.

"Your friends should've learned to keep their mouths shut," Roland growled before he rammed his forehead into Robert's nose. Robert heard a wet crunch as his nose shattered, giving Roland the opening he needed to press the barrel of his gun directly into his chest. "Go to hell."

 _Click_

Both fighter's eyes widened as they realized the revolver was empty. As one, their gazes fell on Roland's other pistol lying just feet away from them. Acting quickly, Robert stabbed out with his semblance, stunning the boy he wrestled with long enough for him to scramble away. Eyes lit in triumph, Robert scooped the revolver off the ground and turned it on its owner.

"Such a shame," he taunted, aiming the revolver at the kid. He allowed Roland enough time to recover his senses, so the boy could fully comprehend his failure. "To have come so close, only to fall just short. Now you and your pretty friend are going to die here.

Roland glared up at him, his steel gray eyes focusing intently on the man holding his gun. "No, this is where you die."

"That's the spirit, defiant to the very end," Robert taunted before he pulled the trigger.

 _BANG!_

Robert cried out as the gun in his hand exploded, reducing the appendage into a pulpy mess. Robert tenderly cradled his mess of a hand with his uninjured one, as the pain threatened to overwhelm him. So preoccupied with his mangled limb was he, that Robert never noticed Roland rising to his feet and calmly loading four bullets into the revolver's cylinder.

"Did you really think I'd let anyone turn my own gun against me?" Robert looked up to see Roland pointing the gun directly at him, breathing deeply and slowly. "You were dead the moment you went for Lightning instead of your fucking batons."

The first bullet shattered what little remained of Robert's aura, and a shimmer of purple flashed around his body. That was when Robert got his first and last good look at Roland's face. The last thought Robert had before Roland fired the remaining three bullets, was how similar he looked to his father.

* * *

Roland turned away from the corpse and hurried to Teresa's side. As he gently as he could, Roland gathered her unconscious body into his arms, the girl groaned quietly, her eyes fluttering open.

"R-Roland?" she whispered.

"I'm here Teresa. I'm here," the gunslinger replied, carefully brushing some hair out of her face.

He watched as his friend smiled slightly and placed a shaking hand on his cheek. "I found you," she murmured, closing her eyes and falling back into unconsciousness. Roland stood back up, happy that Teresa wasn't going to feel any of the pain anymore, at least for a little while.

"Let's get you home," Roland said as he carried her out of the warehouse, leaving her kidnapper's corpse where it lay to rot.

* * *

 _AN: Well that was a boat load of fun wasn't it. Many thanks to my Beta Reader MashiMoshi, without whom I would most likely still be stuck about halfway through the chapter. As always feel free to ask me any questions you have and I hope you guys (and gals) enjoyed the chapter. See you next time._


	14. Recollection

A shiver trailed up Teresa's spine as the rumble of engines roused her from her slumber. Her eyes dragged open as she became aware of a hand gently brushing against her hair. Her body trembled at the physical contact and she became aware of the fact that she was resting on someone's lap. Her vision cleared and she found herself looking up at Roland's resting face.

Carefully, she tried to turn her head to get a look at her new surroundings. She recognized the familiar interior of a bullhead transport ship. She breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing that she was no longer inside that awful warehouse.

"You okay?" Roland asked, causing her to look back up to see the worried expression on his face. Teresa opened her mouth to respond, but a burning sensation in her throat prevented anything other than a low rasp from coming out. "Don't force it. Go back to sleep Teresa. We'll be back at Beacon soon."

Teresa nodded as she closed her eyes again. Sleep came quickly as she listened to Roland hum a melody to a lullaby of some kind.

She wouldn't truly find consciousness again for several hours. Alone in the blackness of her mind, Teresa was only ever partially aware of her surroundings. The dusty scent of Roland's coat as he wrapped her in it like a blanket. The soft jostling of him carrying her down the bullhead's ramp. The concerned, muffled words of her friends as they trailed alongside and behind Roland's brisk pace to the infirmary.

" _Where have you been?"_

" _What happened?"_

" _Will she be okay?"_

Finally Teresa felt the sharp pinch of the IV connecting to her veins as she once more descended into total unconsciousness.

* * *

Ozpin sat alone in his darkened office. The only light coming from the holographic screen hovering above his desk. Beacon's headmaster nursed a mug of coffee in his hands. His eyes glued to the preliminary reports of Teresa Belmonte's examination. Aside from some small electrical burns located all over her body, the girl was also suffering some minor damage to her vocal cords. She would recover, but wouldn't be having an extended conversation for a few days at least.

With a heavy sigh Ozpin leaned back in his seat and sipped his coffee. Savoring the strong taste of the hot brew before he placed the mug back on his desk and rubbed at his eyes. A soft chime across his office alerted him to Glynda's inevitable arrival. His Deputy Headmistress was stepping out of the elevator as soon as the doors were wide enough for her to pass without hindrance.

The woman strode up to his desk, the clacking of her heels on the floor the only sound in the office. The two stared at one another for a few moments, each waiting for the other to begin. As always, it was Glynda who seized the initiative.

"I heard Mr. Harker has returned to the academy." she stated with her hands resting on her hips.

"He's with his friends right now, Glynda." Ozpin informed his Deputy Headmistress, elbows resting on the desk with his fingers interlocked. "They are waiting for an update on the status of Miss Belmonte."

"And what exactly do you plan on doing about Mr. Harker?" Glynda asked, a firm hostile edge creeping into her voice.

Ozpin sighed. "Glynda…"

"Don't take that tone with me, Ozpin. Roland Harker attacked a student and put her in the infirmary. Then he steals an academy bullhead, and several hours later comes back with another student to put in the infirmary. How can we be sure he's not the one responsible for Miss Belmonte's condition?"

"I've seen the footage of the fight. He didn't attack her. he was pulling her off of Sky, and she attacked him. As for Miss Belmonte's condition. Do you truly believe that Roland would do that to his teammate? To his friend?" Ozpin's eyes hardened at the accusation. For her part, Glynda was unable to meet his stare and Ozpin let his voice soften. "Until Miss Belmonte recovers, we have only his word to go on."

"In that case," Glynda said as she spun on her heel, "I'll bring him here so he can explain himself."

"Glynda," Ozpin called, stopping the Deputy Headmistress halfway across his office. "Do you remember what I told you when you questioned my decision to bring Roland to Beacon?"

"The child is not his father." Glynda repeated Ozpin's words to him verbatim. "He may surprise us." She took a moment to adjust her glasses. "I hope you're right Ozpin."

Ozpin watched her step back into the elevator and sank deeper into his seat. "I hope so as well, Glynda." he whispered.

* * *

Roland paced across the infirmary waiting room. His right hand twitched as he fought against the impulse to reach for Lighting to spin around his finger. Which he had to remind himself was in bits and pieces on the floor of that godforsaken warehouse. Across the room sat Yuri, his elbows resting on his knees, his amber eyes never leaving the door. Coco sat next to him, her hand calmly pressing down on his shoulder. Yatsuhashi, Velvet, and Fox were in the center of the room occasionally stealing concerned glances at Roland. Only Vincent was absent, having left the room to call his brother and explain what happened.

The six of them waited in silence until a nurse walked through the double doors that led to the infirmary proper. The nurse held up a hand, halting the onslaught of questions from the group before it could even begin.

"Miss Belmonte will be alright." her words released a collected sigh of relief from the six of them. "Normally we would only allow her teammates in to see her at this moment but Professor Ozpin has informed me that your team can be let in as well Miss Adel." The nurse beckoned the six of them to follow her to Teresa's room.

"Aren't you coming Roland?" Velvet asked, pausing at the double doors. Roland glanced over to the young woman, coughing into his fist before speaking.

"You go on ahead, I'll wait for Vincent."

Velvet nodded once before she turned and ran to catch up with the others. Roland waited until the double doors were completely shut before he spun around on his heels and left the Infirmary. Vincent was waiting on the other side of the door. His leader leaned against the wall opposite the door. His arms crossed, and his emerald eyes burning into his own steel. Roland couldn't meet Vincent's gaze for long. Despair he could ignore. Wrath he could withstand. But disappointment? Disappointment was an emotion he had never learned to overcome. Those emerald eyes bore it in spades.

"So you're leaving. Again?"

"I was only sticking around to make sure that Teresa was going to be ok." Roland turned to head down the hallway, away from his friend, unable to bear the weight those eyes bore on him. "The Nurse just said she'd be fine, so yeah, I'm leaving. I never belonged here, anyway." Roland started down the hall, only to stop once he felt Vincent's hand grip him by the shoulder.

"I don't believe that. The others don't believe that, and I don't think you believe that, either."

"What do you know? What makes you think you know anything about me?" Roland shrugged Vincent's hand off his shoulder but refused to turn around.

"I know I'm your friend," Vincent replied, "I know you could've left Vale at anytime while we were looking for you. I know you think what happened to Terri is your…"

"It is my fault, damn it!" Roland shouted, turning back to face Vincent, his voice echoing down the hall. The Helsing didn't even flinch from the sudden shouting. "I told her to go find a teacher while I tried to stop Noire and Sky from fighting. If I told her to help me instead, we could've been able to separate them fast enough for no one to get hurt. Or at least, she could've stopped me from putting Noire in here. Then I wouldn't have had to leave in the first place, you guys wouldn't have had to come looking for me. Teresa would never have been kidnapped and fucking tortured! None of this would've happened!"

"And that psychopath would still be out there," Vincent stated. "He would've found someone else to torture. To murder, and would have gotten away with it because you wouldn't have been around to track him down and end him."

"So you're saying it's a good thing that I put Teresa's life in jeopardy?" Roland stomped forward and grabbed Vincent by his shirt, shoving him against the wall. "That it's a good thing that Teresa was the one who caught that son of a bitch's eye?"

"Of course not."

"Then what the hell are you saying, Helsing?!"

"If you hadn't been out there, then there's a very good chance that sick bastard could've gotten Terri some time later and you wouldn't be around to save her." Vincent tore Roland's hands off him and shoved him away. "That's what happened out there Roland. You didn't put Terri's life in danger, you saved her life, when none of us could. I can react to trouble as it happens, and Yuri can predict it, but today showed that both of us are useless after the fact. Only you could've tracked that guy down."

"It's still my fault. She wouldn't have been out there if it wasn't for me." Roland repeated, unable to let that fact go.

Vincent stepped forward and placed his hands on Roland's shoulders, "Roland at least come inside and see her. She'll want you to be there when she wakes up, and you can ask her yourself if she blames you for what happened."

"We'll have to see if I'm even allowed to stick around long enough to for her to wake up." Roland said as the clacking of heels on hardwood reached his ears.

"Roland Harker." the two turned to see Professor Goodwitch standing at the end of the hall. "Professor Ozpin would like a word with you in his office."

* * *

An uncomfortable silence permeated the office as Ozpin sat on one side of his desk. Goodwitch on his right, and Roland sat by himself on the opposite side. Both professors never took their eyes off of the young student. Conversely, Roland was stiff on the edge of his seat, seemed incapable of keeping his eyes on any one thing for longer than a few seconds. But that didn't mean Roland wasn't aware of the looks the two professors were giving him.

Professor Goodwitch was glaring at him with he guarded hostility he expected given his actions earlier. Ozpin's stare was different. There was no hostility in his eyes, hell there wasn't even anger. Just that same curious look Roland saw him with in Vacuo.

"Roland I've seen the recording of your fight in the library. Sky and Noire have told me their sides of the story. Now I want yours."

Roland looked down at the floor as he thought back to the events of earlier that day. "I was with Teresa in the library. We were discussing ways to upgrade the gun inside her whip when we heard a loud crash. We found Noire and Sky fighting each other, and I told Teresa to go find a teacher while I tried to pull Noire off of Sky. When I finally managed to get her off him she turned and took a swing at me."

Roland swallowed hard as flashes of the fight wormed their way into his head.

"What happened after that?" Goodwitch asked, her voice was as guarded as her stare.

"My body just reacted, I didn't mean for it to… How is she?" Roland looked up, his steel grey eyes fully meeting Ozpin's for the first time. "Noire, I mean, how is she?"

The headmaster shared a glance with his deputy before he returned his full attention to the student before them.

"She's fine, Roland," Ozpin assured him. "She woke up a little sore and bruised, but was let out of the infirmary about an hour afterwards."

Roland exhaled a deep sigh as his body slumped back onto the chair.

"What happened afterwards?" Ozpin continued, "What did you do while you were in the city? How did Teresa end up in the state she was in when you brought her back?"

* * *

 _You could find one in just about any city. Small, hole in the wall establishments that catered to all sorts of scum and villainy. To the lowest forms of life imaginable. Places that officially didn't exist and_ so _couldn't be found, unless you knew how and where to look. At age thirteen Roland had learned both the how and the where. In Vacuo, the place had been called The Trench, in Vale it was known as The Pit._

 _Roland said nothing as he stepped up to the man in ragged clothes leaning against an unassuming brick wall._

" _Any lien you can spare kid?" the poorly dressed man held out a grime coated hand and flashed a smile, showing off yellow, bent teeth. In a flash Roland pulled the man's wrist to the side with his left hand. His right hand pulled Lightning from its holster and pressed the barrel under the man's chin._

" _Just shut up and open the damn door," Roland growled, his thumb drawing the revolver's hammer back._

" _Okay, okay. Just calm down kid." the man held his free arm out to the side to show his lack of ill intent. "There's no need for things to get messy." Slowly, Roland removed Lightning from the man's throat before he stepped away. Rubbing at his throat with his left hand, the doorman pounded on the wall with his right._

 _There was a brief pause before the wall slid to the side and Roland pushed his way past the doorman into The Pit. The place was much the same as The Trench back in Vacuo. Plenty of tables and seats for the scum of Remnant looking to drown themselves in booze on one side of the dive. More than a few card tables and a lone pool table on the other. A bar with an assortment of liquors sat at the back. Every seat had an ass occupying it, and the air was thick with the scent of smoke, alcohol and other substances. The clamour of the occupants inside silenced as all eyes fell onto the newcomer. Few found themselves meeting the gunslinger's steel coloured glare. Most focused on the revolver still held in his right hand. Roland ignored all of them as he strut towards the bar, his hand sliding Lightning home in its holster._

" _You look a little young for this place, kid." the bartender placed a glass down in front of his newest customer. "What'll you be having?"_

" _I'm not here to drink," Roland said while resting his hands palms down on the counter. "I'm here to see Ephemera."_

 _The bartender narrowed his eyes as he took the glass away and leaned forward on his elbow._

" _Do you have an appointment with Miss Smoake?"_

" _She'll see me," Roland assured him, "Just tell her that Harker wants to speak with her."_

 _The bartender blinked in surprise before he called a short middle aged man over. After a few words were exchanged the newcomer moved behind the bar while the bartender made his way to a back room. The new bartender served the other patrons at the bar diligently. Opting to completely ignore Roland. Within a matter of moments the first bartender returned and gestured for Roland to follow him._

 _The bartender lead Roland to a door at the back of The Pit but placed a threatening hand on his shoulder before he could go through._

" _You'd best be serious about this kid. Smoake's not a woman to be taken lightly, and Harker's not a name to be used casually."_

" _How about you remove your hand from my shoulder before I show you who shouldn't be taken lightly?" Roland growled as he shrugged the man's hand from his shoulder and stepped past the threshold._

 _The atmosphere of the back room couldn't have differed more from the main room if it had tried. The back room was clean and clear. Almost empty save for the lone table with two plush, leather, seats at either head. The light notes of some classical music filled the air instead of drunken, arguments. Roland processed the differences quickly. Storing them away as his steel coloured eyes found the room's sole occupant. Sitting comfortably in the far chair._

 _Ephemera Smoake was a handsome_ _woman. Her features were smooth as marble, with silvery grey hair that framed her chiseled face. Her smokey black eyes were unflinching as she looked Roland up and down. A quick glance at his escort was all that was needed to send him from the room. When the door shut, Ephemera spoke, her strong voice filling the room._

" _Roland Harker," she said, a smirk forming on her sculpted lips, "the last time I saw you, you were about three feet tall and missing your front teeth."_

 _Roland couldn't help but smile at the memory. He'd lost those teeth in a sparring match with his older half-sister. Ephemera had suggested that before his new ones grew in, he could fire peas at her through the gap._

" _It has been awhile, Ephemera." Roland agreed as he moved to the available seat. "Unfortunately, I don't have the time to catch up with you, Auntie."_

" _Straight to business then. Very well, how quickly do you need to disappear?"_

" _As quickly as you can arrange. I'd prefer to be as far away from Beacon as humanly possible this time tomorrow."_

" _Did something to piss off Ozpin, then? Yeah, I'd want to get as far away from that too. Did you have any place in mind? I hear Mistral is lovely this time of year."_

" _I was thinking Atlas, actually. There's someone over there I need to find."_

" _Very well, I_ will _see to the arrangements, in the meantime enjoy yourself. Drinks are on the house." With that, Ephemera pulled out her scroll and gestured for Roland to leave the room. Roland dipped his head in thanks and made his way back to the bar._

" _You get what you need?" the bartender asked as Roland stood across from him once again._

 _Roland nodded his answer before pointing at a bottle of expensive whisky. The bartender raised an eyebrow._

" _She said drinks were on the house."_

 _"If you say so." The bartender shrugged before he turned around and grabbed the bottle. Roland watched the whisky pour into a shot glass before he snatched it off the counter._

" _You guys should've seen the girl Robert managed to snag this time." the voice reached Roland's ear just as the rim of the glass touched his lips. "A real pretty one this time, nice long legs and black, silky smooth, hair. Probably into some kinky shit if the whip..."_

 _The voice continued to describe the girl this Robert had apparently snagged but Roland didn't hear another word after 'whip'. Slowly he turned to find the source of the voice. He found it in a balding mountain of scar tissue and muscle talking to his friend._

" _You think Robert will let us have a crack at her once he's finished?" the friend asked, an ugly smile stretching across his pallid face._

" _I doubt it." The first man grumbled "You know how selfish that bastard..." The rest of his sentence was cut off as Roland grabbed the man and slammed him face first into the table he was sitting at._

" _Where are they?" Roland snarled as he pulled the man up before slamming him back down on the table. This time the table shattered and the larger man fell to the ground, dazed. Before he could pull the man to his feet, an arm snaked across his throat, and Roland found himself in a chokehold._

 _On instinct, Roland shifted his body and rammed his elbow into his attacker's stomach. He felt the rush of air on his neck as the man's grip slackened. In a heartbeat he was free from the chokehold and punching the second man across his face._

 _He fell to the ground after the third punch and Roland was about to turn back to his original target, when he was lifted off the ground by the larger man's tackle. A spike of pain shot up Roland's spine as his back crashed against the bar's counter. The larger man reared back before surging forward again. His shoulder ramming into Roland's gut._

 _Struggling for breath, Roland felt the man's hand wrapped around his throat before his opposite fist clocked him in the jaw. Recognizing the position he was in, Roland lashed out with his foot, aiming for the tender spot between his attacker's legs. It had always worked for his sister whenever he had her in a similar position, and it worked here._

 _As the larger man released Roland to cradle his groin, Roland grabbed the man by the back of his shirt and introduced his face to the bar top. The man's head bounced off the counter. Roland drew Thunder from its holster and pressed the barrel to the man's forehead._

" _Now tell me where they are."_

* * *

"I left after he told me where Teresa was most likely taken." Roland continued, "As soon as I reached the warehouse district it was pretty easy to find them. I just had to…" Roland took a deep breath, his fists clenching on his knees, as he forced the words out of his mouth. "I just had to follow Teresa's screams. I got her out of there as soon as I could, and brought her back here."

"And what of the man who kidnapped her?" Goodwitch asked, "This Robert?"

"You don't have to worry about that son of a bitch. I put three bullets through his heart." Roland's stared at the two professors across from him. "Look, Professor Ozpin, Professor Goodwitch, I know I screwed up. I deserve whatever punishment your about to throw at me. Before you do, I need to see Teresa. I have to… I have to know that she's ok."

"I understand Roland," Ozpin nodded, "but, we still have to discuss your punishment." Roland deflated as he waited for the Headmaster's sentencing. "Under normal circumstances, fighting another student outside of a sparring match is grounds for a weeks detention with Professor Port. Hijacking an academy bullhead adds a month on top of that." Roland flinched at the thought of being stuck in detention with Port for over a month. The gunslinger swore he saw a twinkle of bemusement glint in the man's eyes as he continued. "However, given that your fight with Noire was not only self defense, but also in defense of another student, I'm going to let you off with a warning instead."

Professor Goodwitch cleared her throat before adding. "As for the stolen bullhead…"

"I brought it back." Roland pointed out in his defense, "So really it's more like the 'borrowed' bullhead."

Goodwitch was unmoved by Roland's argument.

* * *

Ephemera watched as two of her disposal crew wrapped Robert's corpse up in a tarp. The rest were hard at work erasing any trace of the man's operation within the warehouse.

"Finally bit off more than you could chew, you goddamn moron." she watched as the body was dragged out and her scroll started ringing. "This is Smoake."

" _Been a long time Ephemera. How are things in Vale treating you?"_

"William Harker, you're right it has been awhile. To what do I owe the pleasure? Last I heard you some kind of job in Mistral."

" _Turned out to be a bust, not worth my time._ " William's voice responded, " _Though I noticed you didn't answer my question._ "

"Oh things in Vale are peachy. I've had to spend the last four hours arranging to have your son's mess cleaned up."

" _Yeah, you're gonna have to narrow that down a bit._ "

"Roland came by my bar earlier tonight." Ephemera explained, "Wanted my help leaving Vale. I told him wait for a bit and the kid winds up getting into a fight with two of my customers. After that he runs out and four hours later I'm cleaning up the boy's first murder."

" _So the kid finally popped his cherry. Who was it? Anyone I know?"_

Ephemera sighed as she moved her scroll to her other ear. "It was Robert, William."

" _Oh. Is that so…"_

Ephemera closed her eyes. She could already feel the headache coming as William finished his sentence.

" _Guess I'll have to get over there and congratulate the boy."_

* * *

 _Authors Note: So first things first, my thanks to my beta reader MashiMoshi for her help in editing this chapter. As always I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter. Now to the nitty gritty. I was going through my earlier chapters and noticed something rather irritating... nothing bloody happens. Chapters 1-8 are basically nothing but filler and buildup that amounts to nothing. To say that I am displeased with what I've produced back then would be an understatement. So I've decided to do some rewriting after the next chapter. I'm still on the fence as to whether or not I should just replace chapters 1-8, or if I should republish the whole thing._

 _In any event, feel free to leave any reviews or to ask any questions. Until next time._


	15. The Comfort of Friends

_Teresa's eyes fluttered open. Her vision focused on the empty room she found herself in. She couldn't help but heave a sigh of relief as she recognized her own dorm room. She propped herself onto to her elbows and listened to the slow steady breathing of her sleeping teammates. She removed herself from her bed and pulled away the curtain that separated her bed from the others._

 _Her teammates slept peacefully in their beds. A smile crept across her face when she saw Roland sprawled across his bed. The gunslinger snored, one leg hanging over the edge of his mattress. Her smile softened as she lifted his leg back onto the mattress and covered him with a sheet._

 _She flinched when a knock at the door shattered the silence that filled the room._

" _Who is it?" Teresa asked, inching her way to the door. Another knock was the only response she received. She reached the door and wrapped her hand around the knob. "Is that you Coco?"_

 _The door swung open to an empty hallway. Teresa peered down the hall, searching for any trace of whoever was knocking at the door. She let out a sigh as her body relaxed against the door frame._

" _You ready for round two?"_

 _Teresa spun around as Robert's hand wrapped around her throat._

* * *

Teresa snapped awake, her hands and feet struggling to push herself backwards. Her breathing was panicked as she felt a pair of hands grab onto her shoulders. Another pair pinned her legs down and within seconds she was immobilized.

"Calm down, Terri." a familiar voice called into her ear as she struggled to free herself from their grip. "Terri you have to calm down. You're safe."

"Yuri?" she rasped, recognizing the voice just as her vision cleared. Yuri was at her side, his amber eyes glowing with concern. His hands resting gently on her shoulders. Vincent was by her feet, holding her legs. Coco and her team stood behind him, waving off an older man in green scrubs and a syringe in his hand. With a shaking breath, she turned back to Yuri. "Where am I?"

"You're safe Terri." Yuri repeated, releasing his grip on her shoulders. "You're back at Beacon. In the infirmary."

"H-how..." Teresa started, her voice cracking as she spoke. Then she remembered her rescue. The lingering sensation of a hand brushing against her hair. A coat's dusty scent enveloping her frame. The soft hum of a half remembered lullaby. "Where is he? Where's Roland?"

Vincent stepped up to her side. His eyes comforting emeralds as he took her hand in a gentle grip. "He's still here. Professor Goodwitch summoned him to Ozpin's office." Teresa heaved a sigh of relief before a stray thought hammered its way through her mind.

' _What if he runs away again? What if Ozpin expels him for his fight with Noire?'_ When Teresa voiced her fears, Coco stepped forward, a plastic cup of water in her hand. Teresa accepted the cup with a nod of thanks as Coco sat on the chair next to the bed.

"I'm sure he'll be here any second." Coco reassured, resting a hand on her knee while Teresa sipped at the water. "Ozpin's rather fond of giving people a second chance." A sly smile worked its way across Coco's lips as she stage whispered, "Remind me to tell you about the time he and Goodwitch caught Velvet trying to steal all of the cafeteria's carrots."

The entire room chuckled as Velvet's rabbit ears twitched, "You promised we'd never speak of that again!" she cried, her cheeks flushing a bright crimson.

"Ok, now that is a story I want to hear." Roland said, stepping into view.

* * *

Roland stood in the doorway as the others turned to look at him. His hands held a lunch tray loaded with a cup, a pot of steaming tea, a jar of honey, and some ground ginger root steady.

"We'll give you guys some space." Coco giving Teresa's hand a gentle squeeze. "We'll see you later Terri." Roland watched Teresa nod as Coco lead her team out of the room. His eyebrow raised as he noticed Vincent and Yuri rising to join them.

"You guys are leaving too?" Roland asked, stepping aside to let his friends pass. Vincent paused long enough to clasp a hand on his shoulder.

"We'll see you back at the dorm." Vincent tightened his grip on Roland's shoulder, "Alright?"

"Yeah. I'll see you guys later." Roland assured his leader. Vincent gave him a nod before he left with the others.

With the others gone, Roland took a deep breath before he moved next to Teresa's bed. Carefully he placed the tray down on the bedside table. With slow, practiced, movements he sprinkled the powdered ginger root into the cup. Next he poured the tea and added a spoonful of honey before he stirred the mixture together. The entire time he was acutely aware of Teresa's bright blue eyes, watching his every move.

"Drink this. It'll help." Roland advised, handing Teresa the steaming cup. Teresa nodded as she took the cup in her hands and raised it to her lips. Roland smiled as her face brightened as she downed the tea before she held the cup out for more.

"This is good. How did you know about this recipe?" Already her voice was sounding stronger.

"I made this for my sister whenever she injured her throat during training." Roland explained, taking the empty cup from Teresa. He decided not to mention exactly how often that was.

"I didn't know you have a sister."

"Well half-sister actually." Roland corrected himself as he prepared another cup for Teresa. "My pa raised us together. Trained us together. Beat us together." Roland said the last words so quietly that he wasn't even sure if Teresa heard him. If she had, she chose not to comment on it.

"What was she like?"

"She was strong. Stronger than I ever was. Not physically mind you, but her spirit… Her spirit was damn near unbreakable. Growing up, she was always smiling. Always trying her best to look out for me. Then one day, after I turned eleven she… she wasn't the same after that."

A long silence filled the room as Roland stared down at the floor. He knew if he were to close his eyes for even the briefest of seconds, he'd see her broken body lying on the ground in front of him. With a shake of his head, Roland forced himself back to the present.

"How are you feeling Teresa?" he asked, focusing all his attention on his injured teammate. "Are you ok?"

"I-I feel alot better now Roland." Teresa blinked at the sudden change in topic. "It's just…" Teresa stopped speaking as her body gave a violent shiver.

"What happened out there?"

After she took a moment to collect herself, Roland listened to Teresa's recounting of her capture. She told him about how Robert tricked her into following him to the warehouse. Of their fight inside and the subsequent torture, only stopping speaking long enough to take small sips of Roland's tea. As he listened, Roland found himself wishing that Robert was still alive. So he could kill him again. Instead he moved closer to Teresa and pulled her into a gentle hug.

"I'm so sorry Teresa." Roland murmured as she buried her face into his neck. "I promise I'll never run off like that again."

A few moments of silence passed before Teresa chuckled. "How much trouble did you get into with Ozpin?" Her soft laughter tickled Roland's neck. "I can't imagine he or Goodwitch were overly pleased with you after today."

"I uhm… I have a months worth of detention with Professor Port."

Despite the hoarse, soreness of her throat, Teresa's laughter was almost musical as it filled the room. Roland smiled at the sound as he joined in, happy that things were quickly going back to normal.

"I should get back to the dorm." Roland gave Teresa's hand a light pat, "Vincent and Yuri might start thinking I ran off again if I don't get back soon. Goodnight, Teresa."

"Wait!" Teresa's hand wrapped around his wrist as he stood. "I don't want to be alone tonight. Please stay with me."

"Of course." Roland whispered. He gave her a small smile as he settled back into his seat. They would talk well into the morning before Teresa drifted off to sleep, a contented smile on her lips.

* * *

"Did you two want to come in for a little bit?" Coco asked as the group reached her team dorm. "Yatsu's going to make some green tea."

"It's good for calming the nerves." Yatsuhashi explained, a tired grin on his face. "I think we could all use a little calming after today."

Vincent and Yuri exchanged a weary glance before they nodded their agreement. Once they were inside Coco flopped down on her bed, a heavy sigh escaping her lungs. All around the room the others made themselves comfortable while Yatsuhashi readied the tea. Fox and Yuri settled themselves in a pair of desks along the northern wall. Velvet sat on the edge of her own bed, her hands folded on her lap. Vincent hovered in the center of the room for a moment before he shuffled over and sat next to Velvet.

' _Oh you two make it too damn easy.'_ Coco mused as she watched her teammate and VTRY's leader try their hardest to not turn redder than Vincent's shirt. Coco was finding it difficult to not start teasing the two of them right then and there. ' _I'll get them both later.'_ she decided as Yatsuhashi started pouring the tea into small cups.

She accepted her cup with a grateful nod and inhaled the fresh aroma of the tea before she took a sip. Coco would always prefer coffee over tea, but she had to admit that Yatsuhashi brewed a damn fine tea. She raised a curious eyebrow when she saw Vincent hesitate to take the offered cup.

"What's wrong Helsing? Not a fan of tea?" Vincent shot her a concerned glance before returning his attention to his cup.

"I've never had any that deserved the distinction."

"Oh ho, hear that Yatsu? Our dear friend Vincent is very particular about his tea."

"I wish that was the case." Vincent gave the cup an experimental sniff. "You see, Verte is without a doubt one of the greatest botanists in Remnant. Unfortunately, he also brews the worst tea on the planet."

"You must be exaggerating. It can't be that bad." Yuri suggested as he sipped his own cup.

"One time he bred a flower that was immune to most modern pesticides. Our sister Violet, whose semblance allows her to produce any number of deadly toxins from her body, couldn't kill it. I poured half a cup of Verte's tea in the pot when he wasn't looking. The thing was dead in minutes. He's still not sure what went wrong." Vincent gave another tentative sniff of his tea before he finally managed to convince himself to take a sip.

"Well, what's the verdict?" Coco asked as Vincent lowered the cup. Her fellow team leader looked thoughtful before he brought the cup back to his lips and downed the entire cup.

"I think he likes it." Yatsuhashi laughed as he refilled Vincent's cup.

' _We needed this.'_ Coco smiled as she joined all the others in the laughter that filled the room. She watched as her friends laughed away the stresses of an exhausting day.

* * *

"Come on, turn you stupid piece of brass." William scowled as his key stuck in the lock and vehemently refused to turn. It was supposed to be simple. He stops by one of his safehouses on the way to Vale. Retrieve the equipment he left in the basement. Leave what he didn't need behind for later, and meet with one of his contacts to get his ride to the middle kingdom. He was not counting on his key getting stuck in the lock and holding him up for thirty goddamned minutes.

When the key snapped in half, the teeth still stuck in the tumblers, William's eye twitched as he glared at the ruined lock and key. Taking slow, measured breaths, he stepped away from the door. Once he felt he was a fair enough distance William sprinted straight for the door. Throwing all of his weight into it, he slammed into the door, the hinges tore free from the wooden frame.

Now that he was inside the safehouse, William could see exactly why his key hadn't worked. Items he didn't recognize filled the entryway and living room. Photographs of a young couple he didn't know adorned the walls. Yes it was perfectly clear why his key refused to work. Someone had moved in and changed the damn locks.

"You miss a few payments and the next thing you know they've repossessed everything." William grumbled as he made his way over to the hidden door that lead to the basement. He had to move a small table to get to the door, and several pictures fell from their hooks as it swung open. William was pleased to see that the area beyond the door was unchanged.

Hoping to get back on track, William wasted no time. Setting down his pack and grabbing the sledgehammer he kept in the corner. William tested the weight of the hammer in his hands. Adjusting his grip on the heft as he stepped to the center of the room. Sure that he had a feel for the hammers weight. William grounded his feet and slammed the hammer down on the concrete floor.

Progress was slow, taking a full fifteen minutes before William finally noticed the cracks forming on the floor like a spiderweb. From there William picked up the pace, excitement giving strength to his swings. After a few more minutes William was picking through the rubble that had been the basement floor. He had uncovered what he had been looking for.

"Hello there my old friend." he whispered as he removed a thick briefcase from where he had buried it. After fiddling with the locking clasps for a few moments the case opened to reveal a set of metal bracers. Once he had shaken the bracers free of dust, William strapped the bracers to his forearms with practiced ease. Satisfied that they were securely fastened, William stood up and flicked both of his arms downwards, his hands balled into fists.

The sound of metal scraping against metal filled the basement as twin blades extended from each bracer. The blades reached two feet beyond his fists and still held their razor edge after all these years.

A few test swings told William that he'd have to tighten the screws holding the blades in place. Otherwise little maintenance was required. A quick jerk of his arms pulled the blades back into the bracers. At the same time a second set of blades extended six inches past his elbows. These too would need a little touching up.

"Who the hell are you?"

William spun around at the voice, instinctually releasing the forward blades of his bracers. The intruder flinched backwards at the sudden movement, pressing himself against the wall. He had short blond hair and dull brown eyes, well muscled physique and a square, lantern jaw. William recognized the man from the pictures above. The one who had moved into his safehouse.

"Wh-who are you?" the man repeated, his eyes focused on the blades extending from William's forearms. William snorted as he retracted the blades and took a step towards the man. The usurper seemed to have located his spine, pushing himself off the wall and stepping forward to meet William.

"I used to live here." William explained, "Just dropped by to pick up some things."

The other man scoffed, crossing his muscular arms over his chest. "Care to explain why you broke down my door?"

"My old key didn't work. I lost my temper."

"Yeah?" The stranger jabbed a finger into William's chest. "Well how about you put back whatever you stole and get the hell out of my house? Before I lose my temper."

"An interesting proposal." William put his hand to his chin. "Here's my counter offer." Faster than the stranger could react, William backhanded the other man across his face. With his aura augmenting the blow, William sent the other man flying back to the wall.

Before the other man had a chance to recover, William was on him again. His armoured forearm pressed against his throat. The other man could only choke out a surprised gurgle when William's other arm drove a blade through his heart.

"Honey, is something wrong down there?" a woman's voice called from above. William and his victim both looked up the stairs for a brief moment before looking back at each other.

"Everything's fine dear." William called back, his voice a perfect copy of the widow's husband's. "I tripped a little." The murderer savored his victim's terrified expression. As their faces became indistinguishable.

* * *

 _AN: My thanks to my new Beta Reader Guntherson962. Another chapter come and gone and William Harker comes ever closer to Vale, Beacon, and our heroes. Will they be ready to face the ire of the hitman. As ever I hope all of you enjoyed the chapter. I welcome any reviews or questions you may have. And of course last but far from least, I thank my former Beta Reader MashiMoshi, who unfortunately is no longer able to Beta for me, for helping get started with this chapter. Now if you'll excuse me... I've got some earlier chapters to tinker with._


	16. Recovered

"It's about time." Teresa muttered as she laid her clothes out on the pathetic excuse of a bed the infirmary provided. Longing for the familiar feel of her huntress gear, Teresa wasted no time in tearing off her drab hospital gown. "I can finally get out of here."

Even though Teresa had insisted that she was fine after her first night in the infirmary, the nurses, doctors, and eventually Goodwitch and Ozpin themselves all told her that she needed at least a week of bed rest. As such, the last few days had been the longest ordeal Teresa had ever faced in all of her seventeen years. Incidentally they were also the most boring.

She missed sharing her room with her teammates. She missed the late night conversations they shared in the moments before sleep took them. She missed Vincent's soft murmuring that was always drowned out by either Yuri's monstrous snoring, or Roland's constant tossing and turning. She missed waking up before all three of them and simply listening to the world around her for the few minutes before Roland would awaken. Most of all, she missed the security of having her three closest friends nearby.

The night Roland had stayed in her temporary accommodations had been as peaceful a night as she could remember. The nights afterwards, less so. Robert continued to haunt her dreams, bringing a new method of torture with him every night. Her first night alone, the madman took to her back with Nebula. Her second saw him blasting at her extremities with Lightning and Thunder. And so it went, every night another of her friends weapons was brought against her.

She made no mention of these nightmares to her friends when they came to visit her after their classes, or in Roland's case after his detention. She was a Belmonte, and a Belmonte didn't burden their friends with a problem that they couldn't solve. Besides, she was confident that the nightmares would end once she was finally allowed to sleep in her own bed.

"No muss, no fuss." Teresa recited as she pulled her pants on. A deep, booming knock at the door caught her attention just as she reached for her shirt. "Just a second Yuri." she called as she pulled the shirt over her head. Once she was dressed, Teresa stepped over to the door, trying as hard as she could to ignore the cold tiles under her bare feet.

Yuri appeared moderately surprised to see her answer the door in her huntress gear.

"They letting you out of here?" the faunus asked as Teresa made her way to her boots and socks in the corner.

"Yup. Got the all clear this morning." Teresa smiled as she pulled her socks on. "Good thing too. I was getting stir crazy being stuck in here." As she tugged her boots on, Teresa noticed that Yuri held a notebook under his left arm. "Those Vincent's notes from today's classes?" Yuri nodded and passed her the notebook.

Teresa took a moment to skim through the notes, thanking God that she had managed to partner herself to a human recording device. She did not want to think of how difficult it would be to make up a weeks worth of missed classes. Especially with teachers like Port and Oobleck.

"Are you sure you're good to go?" Teresa shot the seven foot faunus a withering glare. Yuri refused to be cowed however and soon Teresa felt the heat leave her gaze. She knew Yuri meant well with his question. Vincent was a good leader and he cared for each of his teammates, but it was Yuri who had the most insight into their various moods. Out of all of them Yuri was likely the only one who had the slightest clue about her troubling nightmares.

Teresa sighed, wondering how to say it without making herself sound weak and afraid. "It's not that I want to get out of here, Yuri. I mean I do. I really do actually, this has been the most boring week of my life." Teresa paused, considering her next words. "But it's more than that. I _need_ to get out of here. For things to go back to normal. Because the longer I'm in here, the longer that bastard has an influence in my life. I just want to forget about him and move on with my life. Like... like it never happened. You get what I mean?"

"I understand." Yuri nodded as he reached out with his hand. Teresa smiled as she felt the his hand rest on her shoulder. "I want him forgotten as well." Teresa nodded once, her fingers tightening on Vincent's notebook.

"Good. Now where the hell is Vincent?"

* * *

' _You can do this Velvet. You can do this.'_

The mantra repeated itself over and over in Velvet's mind as she watched Vincent draw his sword, Daylight, from its place on his back.

"You ready Velvet?" Vincent asked as she took her position across from him.

"I'm ready." the faunus confirmed, her long rabbit ears giving a slight twitch as she gave a sidelong glance at their audience.

"You can do this Velvet." Coco cheered, unknowingly adding her own voice to Velvet's thoughts. "Show that over dressed, pretty boy what you're made of." Yatsuhashi and Fox, though silent, showed their support through a thumbs up and a nod respectively.

"How come I don't get any support?" Vincent asked, shooting the three other members of Team CFVY a hurt look.

Coco gave him a smirk. "You want support Vincent? Then go get Roland out of detention and have Yuri sneak Terri out of her room at the infirmary."

Velvet giggled at the playful exchange between the two team leaders. "Coco would you mind starting us off?" her leader nodded once before she stood up and cleared her throat. Velvet almost instantly regretted this decision.

"Ladies and gentlemen." Coco announced, ignoring the fact she was the only lady present other than Velvet herself. "In the brown corner, weighing next to nothing, we have the adorably shy bunny faunus of doom. Velvet Scarlatina!"

Despite herself, Velvet found herself giving a slight wave to the audience of two. Coco continued, "And in the red corner we have some poor schmuck who's about to get wrecked." Across from her Vincent rolled his eyes as he moved his sword to a low guard. Velvet assumed her own ready stance, mentally sorting through her weapon options.

"Ready…" Coco raised her hand in the air. Velvet flexed the fingers of her right hand, getting them ready for the weapon that she decided on. Across from her Vincent ground his foot into the dirt as he gave his guard a slight shift. "Fight!"

Velvet dashed forward, a hard light copy of Daylight materializing in her hand. As the distance between them closed, her semblance accessed her memories of Vincent's fighting style, and her body moved, swift and sure, as he did.

The artificial Daylight met the genuine article in a clash of sparks. Velvet quickly found herself losing ground as Vincent unleashed a flurry of cuts and slashes. Her semblance saw her body through Vincent's stonewall defense as she remembered watching several of Vincent's duels in Goodwitch's class. She knew her chance to launch a counter offensive was approaching.

She struck as Vincent took a brief second to reset himself. Her copy of Daylight snaked forward, looking for a touch on her opponent's shoulder. Her attack was intercepted by Vincent's parry, but she refused to give the Helsing any breathing room. Her weightless blade of light traced glowing blue arcs through the air as Velvet pressed the attack.

"It's not fair." Vincent lamented as he sidestepped her downward slash and countered with a cut for her shoulder. Velvet raised an eyebrow as she slapped his blade aside and offered a riposte. The counter thrust passed bare centimeters from Vincent's cheek.

"What's not fair?" Velvet watched Vincent retreat back a few steps.

"It took me years to learn how to fight effectively." Vincent continued, circling around Velvet. "That riposte you just did alone took weeks to master. And here you are, using it perfectly after watching me do it once or twice. That semblance of yours just isn't fair." Though he was complaining, he made no effort to hide his smile.

' _Unfair or not, he's enjoying this.'_ Velvet realized as she and Vincent rejoined their duel. ' _It's no use trying to use his own style against him. He said it himself. He's had years to master every move, every combination of strikes.'_

A plan began to take shape within Velvet's head as her cut to Vincent's right was parried. The Helsing followed up with a downward slash that Velvet started to block.

In the instant before their blades met, Velvet let her hard light copy of Daylight fade from existence while she stepped to the side. Without meeting the expected resistance, Vincent over extended himself and stumbled forward. Before he had time to recover Velvet kicked Vincent in his ribs. It was the first time since she'd met him that Vincent was incapable of reacting to the scenario unfolding before him.

Already off balance, Velvet had little trouble knocking Vincent on his back with her kick. Acting quickly to capitalize on her momentary advantage, she leapt on top of him and pinned his arms to the ground with her knees. At the same moment she replaced her discarded copy of Daylight with hard light recreation of one of Roland's pistols. She pointed the borrowed pistol at Vincent's unprotected face.

"I win." her chest heaved as the exhaustion of the duel finally caught up with her. Off on the side she was faintly aware of her teammates cheering for her. Coco was naturally the loudest of the group, but she could make out Yatsuhashi's and even Fox's voices in the mix. Even Vincent, pinned to the ground, was lending his voice to group's.

' _He's always been supporting me.'_ Velvet realized, thinking back over her time knowing him. ' _I had grown up hearing horror stories about the war crimes committed by the Helsings. I had been told about how the entire family had hated the Faunus. But when I finally met one, he was kind and supportive. When I ran into people who actually hated me for being a faunus he stood up for me.'_

"Uhm, Velvet?" Vincent's voice interrupted her thoughts. "Can I get up now?"

It was in that moment that Velvet realized she was still straddling Vincent's chest.

"Oh my God, I'm so sorry." Velvet scrambled off of her friend. Her cheeks turning a bright red as blood rushed to them.

"If you two want, we can give you guys some privacy." Coco suggested, barely able to contain her laughter.

* * *

Detention with Professor Port was not at all what Roland had been expecting. He had been expecting to be stuck in Port's classroom, listening to the mustachioed professor drone on and on about the exploits of his bygone youth for hours on end. He certainly hadn't been expecting for his temporary warden to request an examination of his pistols.

"Hmm, fine craftsmanship." Port had said as he turned Thunder over in his hands. "I assume your other pistol was of similar quality." Roland had nodded in response. "Can you fight with only this one?"

"I'll be a bit off balance but I can manage." Roland informed him. Roland held his gaze as the older man thought things over.

"Very well then." The Professor said, giving Thunder a quick spin around his finger before offering the revolver to Roland, handle first. "Come with me."

That was how Roland found himself hunched over a workshop table, a half completed revolver in his hand. The frame had been assembled. The Hammer secured. All that remained was for the cylinder to be attached. He held the incomplete pistol steady as he carefully inserted an eight chambered cylinder into the open space behind the barrel.

The first two days of detention saw Roland digging through bins of scrap metal. Once he had enough material, Roland spent the next three days drawing up designs and waiting for the metal to be forged into the pieces he was assembling now. All the while Professor Port was with him, droning on about the exploits of his bygone youth.

"Have you thought of a name?" The teacher asked as Roland tightened the screw holding the cylinder in place.

"Lightning Mk II." Roland stated as he sighted down the guns barrel. Roland could sense the older man's disappointment in his student's lack of creativity. Roland smirked as he glanced over to the Professor. "Nobody expects Lightning to strike twice. Besides, there can't be Thunder without Lightning."

"Hmm, as you say." Port tossed Roland a pair of small wooden carvings. Roland caught the bits of wood out of the air. It took only a second for the young Harker to recognize them as the remains of the chunk of wood he'd chosen for Lightning's handle.

"When did you have time to carve them?" Roland rubbed his thumb over the smooth pieces of wood.

"Around the time you were grumbling about how I never stop talking about my… I believe your exact words were bygone youth _._ "

Roland had the good graces to at least try and appear abashed, "Oh, you heard that huh?"

"I may be advancing in age, but I'm not deaf Mr. Harker." If Professor Port had been upset by the words Roland had muttered, he did an excellent job of hiding it. In fact Roland thought he could see a hint of a smile beneath the Professor's whiskers. A soft chortle escaped the man's lips. "Now hurry up and finish that weapon. We've much more to do before the day ends."

* * *

"Thank you. Please come again." Verte smiled as his customer left the shop with a bundle of mixed herbs and poultices under their arm. A tired sigh escaped his lips as soon as the customer was out the door. A brief excavation of his coat pockets saw a small journal and his scroll to his hands.

Propping the scroll against a pot resting on the countertop, Verte pulled up the most recent recording he'd made before turning to a blank page in the journal.

" _All right then, beginning Experiment 02-3-2, attempt five."_ Verte's voice rang loud and clear from the device. " _After the underwhelming results of attempt four, I've decided to increase the amount of dust infused into the seed to ten grams in order to achieve…"_ Verte tuned out the botanical and biological jargon his past self spat out as he jotted down a few hypothesized formulas that might, _might,_ give him the results he was looking for.

He would say what he had been attempting for the past three years of his life sounded simple on paper, but that would be a lie. After all, trying to infuse a seed with dust so that the resultant plant produced that same dust on its own had never been attempted by any human or faunus.

Verte still wasn't sure what he would do when he succeeded with his experiment. He had the briefest fantasy of going from humble apothecary owner to head of The Helsing Dust Company. He quickly decided that it wasn't worth the trouble he'd receive from The Schnee Dust Company. Besides, he wasn't doing this to make money. He wasn't even necessarily doing this the betterment of mankind, though it would be a bonus. As a scientist, it was his duty to test and push the limits of what was possible and impossible. Verte had spent the last three years of his life working towards this goal to see if it could be done.

" _So far so good."_ Verte's recorded voice stated as he had begun growing the plant that had been attempt number five. The plant had been full of leaves that glistened with bright, red dust particles. " _I think we might have a…"_ Verte's excited statement was cut short however when the plant burst into flames. A second later it exploded, covering Verte in sticky red mulch.

"So close." Verte murmured as he looked down at his newest formula. Ten grams had clearly been too much. And anything in the milligram range was too little to produce any practical effect. "There has to be a sweet spot in the middle somewhere."

The ringing of the door bell brought his full attention back to the present. Verte quickly fired off his customary greeting as he stuffed his scroll and notebook back into his pockets. Once the items were stowed away he asked his newest customer if there was anything in particular he needed. The customer was dressed in a dark grey trench coat over a suit and tie get up that reminded Verte of a character from a mafia movie he'd seen not too long ago. The man said nothing as he examined the potted plants Verte kept up front. A narrow face with cold, blue eyes scanned over everything with such deliberate slowness, that Verte was sure his guest had been committing the layout of the storefront to memory. When those cold eyes fell on Verte, the store owner felt a shiver trail up his spine.

Verte was no huntsman. Even so he could recognize one through their eyes. Eyes that had seen death and destruction on such a scale that it left a hollow point in them. His Grandfather had those eyes. His parents and his twin had them. In time Vincent would come to have them as well. This man's eyes were different.

The man approached the counter. His narrow face pulling up into a smile that never reached his eyes. A wave of cold almost permeated from the stranger as he pulled a sheet of paper from his back pocket.

"I need the items on this list." his tone was light and conversational but there was something about the man's overall demeanor that had Verte on edge. Still the man was a customer, and Verte wasn't going to let a little unease affect his business. He looked over the list provided and noted a few commonalities between every item on the list.

"Sir, every item on this list is illegal to sell." Verte informed him. He didn't bother mentioning that every item was also highly toxic. He had a feeling his customer already knew.

"Hmm, is that so?" The customer asked as his hand reached inside his coat. Verte had no idea where he acquired the fortitude to not flinch when the man's hand came free from his coat and slammed something down on the counter.

' _Chalk that one up to good ol' fashioned Helsing bullheadedness.'_ He mused as he examined the object. Verte let out a deep sigh after a cursory glance told him everything he needed to know. A large stack of lien sat on his countertop. A promise of further payment was evident in the buyer's half smile and raised eyebrows.

"It's not a matter of payment sir," Verte explained, pushing the stack of lien towards the man. "I do not carry the items you have requested."

"Really?" the man's half smile turned to a disappointed frown. "Are you sure you don't have anything on that list? Not even in the back?"

"I run this store to provide people with medicines. Why would I have plants that are poisonous?" The customer smiled once more, and this time it did reach his eyes. Verte found he preferred it when the man half smiled.

"Sometimes the only difference between medicine and poison is the dosage used."

"I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to leave my store sir."

"Hey, don't be like that my friend." the man placed his hands on the countertop as he leaned forward. "I'm sure you and I can work something out."

* * *

 _AN: Well here we are again. It's always such a pleasure to release a chapter for you guys. Looks like Verte might be in some trouble as William get's ever closer to our young heroes. Only about three or so chapters left until we hit the end of Volume One, as it were. As always I have to thank my Beta Reader Guntherson962 for his feedback. I hope all of you enjoyed the chapter and welcome any reviews, comments, or questions you may have. Until next time._

 _Ps. The experiment number wasn't random. Can anyone guess the significance?_


	17. The Calm Before

William's smile only widened as the storekeeper narrowed his eyes.

"I told you to get out of my store." The botanist's voice was calm and steady. Not at all like the fool from a week ago who'd tried to intimidate him out of his home. This man was ready for a fight.

Neither man moved a muscle as they took the measure of their potential opponent. William suspected that the botanist's light green eyes were scanning William's body for anything that might indicate a hidden weapon. That's what he was doing after all. Aside from a small, rectangular, lump in a coat pocket, the botanist didn't seem to be carrying a weapon. That being said, he knew better than to assume that this man was completely unarmed. There was probably a gun of some kind behind the counter, waiting to be pulled.

"Alright, alright. I can see I'm not wanted here." William gave a small sigh as he pushed himself off the counter and took a single step back. He almost missed the slightly misshapen bulge that almost seemed to be crawling underneath the man's sleeves as he turned around. "I shall take my leave in peace."

William had it all planned out. His assurance that he was leaving would cause the shopkeeper to lower his guard. That was when he would strike. Spinning on the balls of his feet, William would lash out. The blade from his bracer would open the man's throat and he would be free to peruse the store at his leisure. Once he had what he needed from the place, he'd erase any evidence of his presence. The authorities would likely pin the arson on Ephemera, the store was right on the border of her territory after all. Sure that meant Ephemera would have to deal with any fallout, but he'd get off free as a bird.

William was right about to spring into action when a wave of dread washed over him. The soft chime of the doorbell reached his ears as a new figure entered the store. Out of the corner of his eye, William saw the various potted plants that filled the shelves all droop over, as if bowing in subjugation. William's blood froze as he recognized the newcomer immediately. Standing in the store's entryway, wearing a frayed, patch covered, leather trench coat over stained work clothes, was the one man William had hoped to never meet.

Abraham Van Helsing took slow measured steps into the store. His dark brown eyes seeming to stare right through William as he stopped in front of him. For mad, brief moment William considered following through with his plan of attack. He could strike, fast and hard as a King Taijitu. Catch the legendary huntsman off guard. Kill him before he could bring either his twin sabers or his crossbow to bear.

' _Right. And one day the Grimm will become cute and cuddly housepets instead of the scourge of mankind_ ,' the more rational part of his mind said. It was in that moment that William actually heard the man's voice.

"You're in my way lad."

It was funny, William had to admit as he numbly stepped to the side. The man didn't sound how he expected him too. Instead of the gruff, gravel gargling, voice that was so often attributed to the man. His voice was deep yet soft. The voice a man who had seen too many things, and done too much. It was the voice of someone who was tired and wanted to rest.

With his path no longer barred, Helsing brushed past him and proceeded to chat with the shopkeeper, who seemed to have forgotten about him. Taking the hint William stepped outside the shop, pausing only to get a last glance at the pair of men. Neither man seemed to be paying any attention to him at all.

' _I could do it_ ,' the insane thought wormed its way back into his head for a moment before William squashed it down again as he made his way down the street. He was about to round a corner when he caught sight of his reflection in a storefront window. He stared with disbelief as his true face stared back at him.

* * *

"Damn it." Roland growled as the bullet went wide again. Three shots had been fired at the target positioned only twenty feet away. Three shots have missed by increasing margins. "Must've fucked up the rifling."

"Language, Mr. Harker." Professor Port said, not even glancing up from the clipboard in his hand.

All the same Roland muttered a few more choice curses as he aimed Lightning once more. The young gunslinger took two deep breaths before he focused on the target's head. His finger squeezed the trigger just as the blank silhouette of a target turned into his father. In that instant Roland's focus faltered. The bullet went wide once more. An instant later, the target was nothing more than a black outline again.

"What is wrong with this thing?" Roland demanded, hoping an answer would come from somewhere. Anywhere.

"May I try?" Port asked, holding out his upturned palm. With a grunt, Roland shoved the pistol into the professor's hand and stepped to the side. Giving the gun a quick turnover in his hands, Port squared off against the target. "How many shots are left?"

Roland said nothing in response, instead merely holding up four fingers. Port nodded once before he turned his focus onto the target. The professor took a moment to pick his targets before he squeezed the trigger four times. The muzzle of the revolver flashed four times. Roland blinked in surprise as he watched the four bullets punch through the target's head, shoulders and heart.

"I thought as much." Port said as he handed Lightning back to its owner. "There isn't problem with the gun. The problem is yours, Roland."

"What are you talking about?" Roland's fingers tightened around Lightning's grip. He had a feeling he knew exactly where the professor was going with this. "I told you I must've messed up the rifling."

Port huffed in response before he pointed to Thunder. Even without saying anything the professor's message was clear. With a roll of the eyes, Roland slammed Lightning back into its holster and drew Thunder. After only a moment's hesitation, Roland fired the revolver four times.

All four shots missed as two sets of eyes stared back at him. William Harker's dispassionate glare, and the heterochromatic, pleading, eyes of his sister.

Roland was about to turn away when he felt the professor's hand come down onto his shoulder. When he spoke, his voice was gentle. "The man you killed when you saved Miss Belmonte. He was your first, wasn't he?" Roland said nothing at first. He waited to see if Port would continue on without any input, like he so often did in his class.

"Yes. He was." Roland said as soon as it became apparent that Port's question was not a rhetorical one.

"I suspected as much. The first time you take a life is always the hardest."

"I get what you're trying to say professor. I really do. But trust me when I say that guilt isn't what's throwing me off." Roland looked away from the target as he whispered, "At least not guilt for that bastard."

"... I think that's enough detention for today, Mr. Harker." Port said, giving Roland's shoulder a gentle pat. "Go be with your friends."

"Thank you Professor." Roland gave a short nod before he slid Thunder into its holster. He spared a last glance at the image that haunted him. His father's cold uncaring eyes as he clenched a fistful of his sister's brown hair.

"Oh and Roland." The young gunslinger turned to older man once more. "I understand if you don't want to share your problems with me, but you should talk to someone. Someone you trust."

"I… I'll think about it." Roland said before he left the room.

* * *

Yuri smiled as he watched Teresa hunch over the chessboard that sat between them. Her brow wrinkled as she tried to come up with a strategy that would deliver her victory in the most expedient way possible. Yuri had certainly not made that easy for her. For his part, Yuri had never been that good at coming up with strategies, but he was good at controlling a situation. As it turned out, the best way to control the situation in chess, especially against a forward thinker like Teresa, was to make the least sensible moves possible.

Would he win? Hell no. But he'd claim a moral victory every turn she thought twice about moving her piece to an obvious check position he left open.

"You guys are still going at it?"

"I've got her too afraid to make a move." Yuri turned to regard his leader as he left the bathroom, dressed in sweatpants, an undershirt, and a damp towel across his shoulders. "She's convinced I'm trying to lead her into a trap."

"Only because you are." Teresa said as Vincent crossed the room. "No one would make the moves you've been making without some far reaching plan."

Even without his semblance, Yuri could've read the utter confusion on Vincent's face as he glanced over the chessboard.

"Uh-huh, sure he is." their leader said as he plucked Teresa's knight off the board and put it into a check position. "And there's a checkmate."

"No there's not. That move doesn't count." Teresa's hand flashed forward, grabbing the piece and putting it back where it was. Yuri shared a smirk with Vincent when, not a minute later, Teresa wound up putting the knight back and claiming the victory.

"I claim the moral victory." Yuri said, knocking over his king.

"Oh shut up." Teresa griped as the door swung open. The three of them turned to see Roland standing in the doorway.

"Teresa? They let you out of the infirmary?"

"I decided a week of lazing about was enough." Teresa said, treating her recovery as though it had been a vacation. "And what about you? Port let you out of detention early?"

"...He had some other things to do today so he let me go early." Roland shrugged, stepping into the room and flopping down on his bed. Yuri exchanged glances with the others. They had caught the moment of hesitation as well.

"You snuck out didn't you?" Teresa pointed an accusing finger at the gunslinger.

"Really feeling the trust over here guys." Roland said, rolling over so that his back was to them all. Yuri frowned as he felt waves of discomfort rolling off his partner. He was about to ask him what was bothering him when Teresa spoke up again.

"Well in any event, that actually works out better for us. Now we don't have to wait for you."

"What were you waiting for me for?" Roland asked, still facing away from them.

"Terri wanted to go out for dinner to celebrate us all being together again." Vincent said, pulling a white dress shirt from his dresser.

"Hmm, that sounds nice." Roland said. "Have fun."

"What do you mean have fun?" Teresa stepped over to his bed and rolled him over to face them. "You're coming as well Roland."

"Actually I think I'm gonna turn in for the night."

"It's four thirty."

"And I've had a rough day. So if you'll excuse me." Roland said, rolling over once again. It wasn't long before Teresa had him facing her again.

"Now you listen here, Roland Harker. I've been stuck in that infirmary for an entire god-damned week. During that week I've been trying to come up with the best way to repay you for saving my life. And I've decided that I'm going to begin with taking you, and Vincent and Yuri out for dinner tonight." Teresa's, almost desperate, determination filled the room and Yuri knew in that instant how this little confrontation would go.

With the outcome already decided Yuri and Vincent set about cleaning up the chess game before they finished getting ready for their trip to the city.

* * *

Despite her best efforts, she was watching him again. Teresa, along with Vincent and Roland, couldn't tear her eyes away from Yuri as he tore into the pair of salmon steaks in front of him with the savagery of an Ursa Major. The faunus didn't seem to care.

"You know I don't think I'll ever get used to this." Roland said as he returned his attention to his own food. Yuri paused the mutilation of his dinner, reaching for his glass of water.

"I didn't exactly get to eat a lot of fish growing up. So you'll excuse me if I indulge myself a little from time to time."

"Wait a minute. I thought you were from Menagerie." Vincent said, "The only city over there is a port city. Fish shouldn't have been that rare."

"Oh right, I only told Coco about my home before I came to Beacon." Yuri said to his team

"You told her about your home? Before your own team? I thought we were close man." Roland said with an, obviously fake, hurt expression.

"It was when we were looking for you," Yuri turned to Teresa, "both of you actually. We were just talking to distract ourselves." the bear faunus told them.

"Oh yeah. I'm still sorry about that. Carry on."

Teresa listened intently as Yuri told them all about his home village, Kasha. She'd always heard that, aside from the single coastal city Vincent mentioned, Menagerie was an almost entirely uninhabitable desert. To say that it was surprising to hear that there were some who had managed to thrive in the inhospitable deserts, despite the lack of huntsmen, was an understatement.

"That's why I came to Beacon." Yuri concluded, "My home needs more huntsmen and huntresses to protect it. With luck, I'll only be the first of many."

"What about the White Fang?" Roland asked, "Surely they'd want to help keep those villages safe."

"You'd think so wouldn't you?" Yuri almost growled. Teresa raised an eyebrow as she and the others waited for him to elaborate. When no explanation was forthcoming, the other three returned to their dinners. "How about you guys? Why did you all come to Beacon?"

Teresa exchanged a glance with the others. Judging by their expressions they were just as curious about what Yuri meant as she was. However, they also knew that Yuri would say no more until he felt like it. So they might as well indulge him. Through an unspoken agreement, Vincent went first.

Teresa wasn't too surprised to learn that Vincent's reason for joining the academy was much the same as her own. They had both come from families that were filled to the brim with huntsmen and huntresses, and they both wanted to go to an academy where they wouldn't just be the latest member of the family to attend. But that's also where the distinction between them lay.

The Helsing's, according to Vincent, each attended a different academy to keep the family balanced. She knew for a fact that his grandfather, The Abraham Van Helsing himself, attended Atlas Academy in his youth. Vincent's mother, Valerica Helsing, had gone to Haven Academy in Mistral. Where she had met Vincent's father, Jason Argos. Finally his older sister, Violet Helsing, had apparently made quite the name for herself as she took Shade Academy in Vacuo by storm. Even Verte, the first Helsing in decades to not become a huntsman, had attended Vale's prestigious Serine Academy to earn his doctoral degree in botany.

"My family has almost exclusively attended Atlas Academy since its founding." Teresa began, "The school is very closely tied to my family. So much so that when I told them of my intention to attend Beacon, Father and Mother both asked if I had taken leave of my sense. My father even went so far to warn me that our family, while still respected, wasn't held in as high regard at the other academies. To be honest, that was what sealed the deal for me. I didn't want to just coast by on my family's legacy." She paused to eat another forkful of pasta, and wash it down with another sip of water before she continued. "I wanted to go out and forge my own legacy. So I came here."

"You wanted to prove that you could make it on your own." Roland surmised.

"More or less. What about you Roland? Why'd you come to Beacon?"

The gunslinger gave a light shrug as he tore the last chunk of meat off a rib bone. "Not much to tell. Ozpin came to me with an offer to attend Beacon. I wasn't exactly doing anything important, so I accepted."

"That's it?" Teresa pressed, "Ozpin asked and you had nothing better to do? You've got to be kidding me."

"Nope." Roland reached into his pocket to pull out his wallet. After a few seconds of searching he produced enough lien to cover the cost of his dinner. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to head back to the academy." With a tip of his hat, Roland turned to leave the restaurant.

"Terri, maybe you should go with him." Yuri suggested as they watched him go.

"He's not gonna run off again Yuri." Teresa muttered.

"I know that Terri. I know, but I can't be the only one who noticed he wasn't his normal self today."

"I have to admit, he did seem a bit subdued today." Vincent agreed, "Maybe something happened in detention."

"Well whatever it is, he didn't seem very interested in talking about it." Teresa pointed out.

"Not to us maybe," Yuri agreed, "but he might be willing to talk some more if it's just you."

A single glance was all it took for Teresa to see that Vincent was having a similar thought. With a sigh, Teresa pushed herself away from the table and made to follow her teammate.

"I hope they're right." she whispered when she caught sight of Roland walking down the street.

* * *

Ephemera growled upon seeing the man seated at her bar. Her bar that had been full of patrons until he had kicked the door down and demanded that everyone get out. A couple of slit throats had been needed to get the point across. The Pit was closed.

"So tell me exactly why you decided to empty my bar tonight." She demanded taking her spot behind the counter across from him. For a few moments William said nothing, his cold blue eyes staring off into nothing. Finally he seemed to have come back to himself.

"It's a little hard to have a private conversation in a bar full of idiots." William said, reaching behind the counter for a bottle of tequila.

"That's what the back room is for." Ephemera countered, slapping William's hand away from her stock. She grabbed the bottle he was reaching for and a pair of shot glasses.

"I hate that room." She filled the glasses as her guest spoke. "It's too clean. Separated from the real world."

Ephemera nodded once before she slammed the drink down. "Cut to the chase Harker. What do you want?"

"I paid a visit to an apothecary today. Tried to pick up some herbs I might need." Harker paused to down his own drink. "The bastard behind the counter however insisted that he didn't have any of them. I was right about to kill him and search the store for myself when _he_ arrived."

"And who is _he_?" Ephemera asked, even though she had a pretty good idea. ' _Harker, this better not be going where I think it is.'_

"Tell me what you know about the store on the corner of 82nd and Lunar."

"You tried to murder Verte Helsing?" Ephemera growled.

" So you know the place."

"Everyone knows that place!" Ephemera shouted, "What's more everyone knows to avoid it! Even bloody Torchwick knows better than to mess with Helsing!"

"Well if it makes you feel better, We were interrupted before I could try anything." Ephemera had to fight down the desire to smack William across his face. She considered doing so anyway until she took another look. Once again, William seemed to be staring off into nothingness.

"Harker? What's…"

"I froze up." he interrupted. "The old man just walked in and I froze up like a goddamned rookie."

"Get out of here Harker. Go rest up." She'd known William Harker for a long time, and she'd only ever seen him like this a few times. She had no idea what went on inside the man's head during these episodes, but she knew all he would need before he was back to to his old self again was a night's rest.

"Yeah, that sounds like a good plan." William said, his hand reaching for the bottle Ephemera left on the counter. She went to slap his hand away again but decided against it. The liquor wasn't good enough to be worth the effort anyway. She watched Harker stop at the bar's entrance before he turned to face her again.

"I think I'll see my son tomorrow. I think it's past time he and I have a talk about his future."

With those words William left Ephemera alone in her bar. Always the cautious one, she waited ten minutes before she pulled out her scroll. It took her only a few seconds to find the right number and send the first text.

 _He's in the city. Now's your best chance._

* * *

 _AN: Ah boy this chapter. There are some parts of this one that I really like and had a blast writing, and others where I was just "AGH! I wanna end it now." But overall I'm happy with how it turned out, and I hope you guys are too._

 _Fun fact, originally the beginning and end of this chapter were going to be very different. First off, there was no interruption by Grandpa Abraham. William was actually supposed to have quite a nasty brawl with Verte. Both sides were going to get some pretty good licks in before William winds up having to retreat after Verte buries a crossbow bolt in his shoulder._

 _This would lead to the ending where instead of William coming to Ephemera with a mild existential crisis, he would instead only come to have the bolt removed. On a side note she was also going to be significantly more pissed off about him picking a fight with a Helsing. The ultimate is still the same though, William leaves to confront Roland and Ephemera still sends a message to someone._

 _Now the reason for this change is fairly simple. William has to fight Roland and company soon. A feat that would considerably more difficult (i.e. impossible) after the injuries he'd sustained in his fight with Verte. Also Verte is supposed to be the "noncombatant" in the Helsing family so it didn't really make sense for him to go toe to toe with the world's most deadly contract killer._

 _Anyway, as always I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Big thank you to my Beta Reader Guntherson962, as well to all you other readers. Feel free to ask any questions or leave a review._

 _PS. It's kinda become a thing for me here, so let's play Guess The Semblance. Today's subject: Abraham Van Helsing._


	18. The Storm Breaks

"Is everything alright Roland?" Despite himself, Roland forced a grin as Teresa asked the same question for what felt like the hundredth time.

"I'm telling you, Teresa, I'm fine." he told her again, "I'm just tired."

"Ok, I tried being patient." Teresa stated, her hand gripping his sleeve. Roland found himself spinning around to face his irritated teammate.

During the time he'd spent living under his father's tutelage, Roland had learned several ways to effectively remove himself from just about any hold or grapple. He also learned how to cause serious injury to the poor bastard who thought grabbing him was a good idea. Each and every one of those lessons flew out the window when faced with the wrath of the Belmonte heiress.

"Don't you even think about giving me that 'I'm fine,' crap." Teresa released Roland's sleeve and started jabbing her finger into his chest. "I don't need Yuri's semblance to tell me that there is something bothering you Roland. Now if you really don't want to say anything, that's fine. Feel free to maintain that stupid 'macho guy' crap all you want, but don't think for a second that you're fooling anybody."

Roland wanted to argue with her. He wanted to assure her that everything was in fact fine. To tell her that he was just having an off day, and that everything would be fine tomorrow. Instead, all Roland found himself capable of was focusing his attention on Teresa's bright blue eyes. He always found it strange how, even when she was upset with him, her eyes always brought some level of comfort to him.

"Roland, I want to help you. So please, just tell me what's wrong." Teresa said. Her eyes softened as she placed a tentative hand on his cheek. Roland exhaled a breath he wasn't even aware he'd been holding. Slowly, he reached up to take Teresa's hand into his own.

"Alright. Let's find a place to sit down first." Roland whispered as he searched around them for a cafe to rest in. A few minutes of searching saw the two of them seated in the corner of a noisy little cafe. Two mugs of steaming coffee rested before them. "So, where would you like me to start?"

"Let's start with the real reason why Port let you out of detention early today." Teresa said after only a moment's consideration.

"Alright." he sighed, sipping his coffee to give him a moment to collect himself. "I had spent the better part of the last week gathering the materials I'd need in order to build a new revolver."

As he spoke, he removed Lightning from its holster and handed it over to Teresa. As she examined the firearm, Roland told her about his session in the shooting range. He told her about the shots he'd missed and how he had tried to pass it off as a design flaw. He noted the smile that crept across her face when he tried to breeze over Port calling him on his bullshit.

"He thinks I'm feeling some level of guilt over taking a life, and that's what's throwing me off." Roland finished, taking his gun back from Teresa. "I'm pretty sure he let me go early hoping that I would talk to one of you guys about it."

"He probably figured at least one of us wouldn't leave you alone until you told us everything." Teresa said. "Say what you want about how long winded he is, Professor Port does know his students."

"Maybe," Roland sipped from his mug of coffee. He knew Teresa wouldn't simply leave it at that.

"Do you feel any guilt over killing Robert?"

"No. Not even a little bit."

"Then what's throwing you off?"

"The fact that I don't feel any guilt over his death." Roland said, his voice just above a whisper. He could see that Teresa didn't quite understand what he meant. "Last week, when I put Noire in the infirmary. What was I like?"

He watched Teresa consider a moment before she spoke. "Quite frankly, you were beside yourself."

"Despite the fact that all in all, her injuries weren't that serious." Roland agreed. "From what Ozpin told me, she was in and out of the infirmary in no time. That same night I killed my first man." Roland paused to take a gulp of his coffee. "A man is dead, Teresa. There's not doubt he deserved it, but the fact doesn't change. A man is dead by my hand, and I feel nothing. Not guilt, not pride, nothing. In spite of my best efforts. Despite what Waltz did for me. I still wound up becoming my father."

"Waltz?" Teresa repeated. "Who's Waltz?"

"Waltz was my sister. She died. About five years ago." Roland said, never taking his eyes off the table. His hands, as they always did, balled into fists as he remembered every vivid detail. The tears streaming from her mismatched eyes. The fresh, crimson blood staining her white shirt. The panicked rasp of her final words to him, or anyone else. The weight of the first Lightning, useless in his limp grip. With a shake of his head, Roland dispelled the image. As his vision cleared saw Teresa's expression change from confusion to sympathy.

"Oh," she whispered, "I'm sorry. I didn't know."

"It was a long time ago." Roland downed the rest of his coffee, "Nothing more than a bad memory these days."

"How did it happen?" Teresa asked.

"Are you sure you want to hear this?" Roland warned, moving his mug to the side, "It's not a pretty story."

"I'll be fine." Teresa assured him, reaching out to pat his hand. The gunslinger nodded once as he again found himself comforted by Teresa's soft blue eyes. "Besides, something tells me this is something you need to get off your chest."

"Yeah. Maybe I do." Roland agreed before clearing his throat. "Like I said, it was about five years ago. I had just turned eleven when my father decided it was time for me to make my first kill. So he takes me and Waltz to this warehouse in the slums of Vacuo. Presses Lightning into my hand and tells me…"

* * *

 _"All you have to do is squeeze the trigger kid."_

Roland swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat. A shiver trailed down his spine as his father placed a heavy hand on his shoulder. His other hand wrapped around his wrist and lifted until Lightning was pointing straight ahead. Across the room, sitting in a corner, Waltz ran a whetstone down the edge of her slender blade. Neither of them paid the gagged man tied to the chair any mind.

"Who is he?" Roland asked, his arm trembling from the weight of the pistol. The revolver was large in his small hands, but his father assured him that he'd grow into it. "What did he do?"

"It doesn't matter." William stepped away, "The only thing that matters is someone is willing to pay us to kill him."

"I… I understand, sir." Roland bit his lip as he trained Lightning's barrel on his target's heart. The man struggled against his bindings. Tears formed in the corners of his eyes as his cries for mercy were muffled by the gag.

 _'I have to do this_ ' Roland felt his finger tighten around the trigger. _'I have to do this._ ' Bit by bit, the hammer drew back. ' _I have to do this_.' The man cried into his gag.

"I can't do this." Roland eased his finger off the trigger and lowered the gun. He saw Waltz brush a lock of pink hair out of her eyes. Like him, she knew what was coming.

"You wanna run that by me again kid?" William's voice was low, almost uninterested. To anyone else, the man would've sounded like he had misheard something and simply wanted the statement repeated for clarity. Roland and his sister knew better.

William Harker was always just a hair's breadth away from violence. It was difficult, but over time both Roland and Waltz had come to recognize certain tells.

They were small things. The subtle way he shifted his weight while standing still. The words he chose as he approached. The fullness of his smile while in conversation. The tilt of his shoulders when his back was to you. His tone of voice when you say something he doesn't agree with. Each indicated that pain was in the immediate future for whoever had drawn his ire.

Roland had just finished bracing himself for whatever was coming when Waltz inserted herself between them.

"Wait." she held a hand out in front of her, trying to create as much of a buffer between them as possible. "Let me talk to him."

William said nothing as he took a step back. Roland's breath came out short and ragged as Waltz turned to face him.

"Calm down, Tango." she whispered, putting her hands on his shoulders. "Remember, breathe nice and slow."

"I can't do it, Waltz." Roland said, shaking his head.

"Sure you can." She placed a hand on his cheek. "Breathe in and out. Like we practiced."

"What did he do to deserve death?"

"It doesn't matter Tango." Waltz told him, echoing their father. "He could have murdered someone. Maybe he pissed off the wrong person. It doesn't matter. He has to die."

Roland glanced over to his father, who watched them with his cold, blue eyes, then to the sobbing man in the chair. Lightning grew heavy in his hand as he met his sister's mismatched eyes. That one look was all it took for Waltz to understand.

"It's ok, Tango. It's ok." She pressed her brow against his before she turned to face William. "He's not ready for this. Let me take care of it."

William said nothing. His silence became deafening with every step he took towards his children. It took every ounce of restraint Roland possessed to not back away when he stood over him. Without a word he reached down and plucked Lightning from Roland's hand. After taking only a moment to inspect the pistol, William turned the gun on his prisoner and squeezed the trigger.

The report of the revolver still echoed in Roland's ears when William spun on his heels and slapped the still smoking barrel across his face. Roland screamed as he fell to the floor. His cheek burned where the barrel struck him.

A savage kick to his stomach flipped him over to his back, and Roland found himself staring into his father's eyes. There was no anger. No rage or fury. Only cold indifference as he lifted his foot again.

Waltz slid between the two of them. She knocked William's foot away with the back of her hand before she landed a spinning kick across his jaw. Their father staggered back as Waltz pointed her thin blade at his chest.

"That's enough." Her voice was low. The promise of a threat clear. Roland watched in horror as William smiled for the first time all day. He pulled himself up and tried to hide behind Waltz. Without looking away from their father, Waltz wrapped her free arm around his shoulder. "Do not come any closer."

"You want to protect him?" William asked, giving Lightning a twirl around his finger. His smile widened as he pointed the gun at them. "How sweet."

Waltz adjusted her grip on Roland's shoulders. The boy offered no resistance as she moved him further behind her. William's smile never faltered as he tossed the weapon to the side. He rolled his sleeves up to his elbows before he squared off against his daughter.

"Tango, give me a little space." Waltz whispered as she gave Roland a gentle nudge towards the wall. "I need to have a word with the old man."

"Old man?" William repeated as Roland pressed himself against the wall. "Seems like you need to learn some respect, child."

Waltz smiled a savage grin as she leapt forward. William dodged her first cut with an almost casual turn of his torso. He responded with a hard jab aimed directly for Waltz's face. She spun around the punch, her blade angled to slice into his side.

Having been the one to teach her that move, William was ready with its counter. His left hand shot out and caught her by the wrist while his right caught her in the stomach. Roland could almost hear the air rush from her lungs as she doubled over.

"Did you forget who taught you everything you know?" William asked as he yanked her up by her wrist. Waltz cried out as William gave the arm a twist. He silenced her with a chop to the throat. "Every move. Every cut, stab, kick, and dodge. They all came from me."

William released Waltz's wrist as he kicked out the back of her knees. She fell to the ground in a heap. As she pushed herself up William grabbed a fistful of chocolate brown hair and drove her face into the floor.

Roland tore his eyes away from his father's brutal display. In a panic, his grey eyes scanned for something to latch onto. They fell on Lightning. The revolver lay just a few feet away from him.

' _I could end it_.' Roland thought, _'If I'm fast enough, I can grab Lightning and end it all right here and now.'_ Emboldened, Roland glanced back to the fight. All of William's attention was focused on Waltz. He took his one chance.

Roland rushed over and scooped Lightning off the floor. He fumbled with the heavy pistol for a few moments before he lined up the iron sights with William's back.

 _'All I have to do is squeeze the trigger.'_

* * *

Teresa felt Roland tighten his grip on her hand as he told her everything. She listened to him fight to keep his voice calm as he recalled every blow his father dealt to both him and his sister. She watched him squeeze his eyes shut before he released her hand to rub at his eyes.

"I was about to fire when he turned to face me." he said, lowering his hands. "He didn't say anything. He didn't attack me. He didn't let go of Waltz. All he did was stand up, holding her up by her hair. He must've known I wouldn't be able to shoot him, because he didn't even bother to try to use Waltz as a shield. I think she must've have known too. She took one look at me, and told me to run."

"Did you?" Teresa asked, prompting a bitter smile stretched across her friend's face.

"I don't think I've ever stopped." He responded, casting his gray eyes onto the empty mug in front of him. "Ever since that day I've tried to keep moving, always keeping an eye over my shoulder, an ear pricked for the slightest of sounds. I'm pretty sure my father never really lost track of me, but he also never cared enough to collect me. For a time I considered going to Atlas to find my mother, but I never did."

"Why not?"

"I was always afraid that would be the thing that caused him to come after me. So I stayed in Vacuo. I gambled. I fought. I stole. Whatever I had to to stay alive. But I never killed. I always knew that when I killed someone I'd be one step closer to becoming my father. I could never bring myself to cross that threshold. At least, not till last week." A bitter smile crept across Roland's face, "Heh, wonder if the old man would've been proud."

Teresa took a breath. She knew, deep in her heart, that what she was about to say had the potential to backfire horribly. But she also knew that there could be no victory without risk.

"I can't speak for your father, but I'm sure Waltz would be proud of you."

"How do you figure that?"

"I'll answer that in a minute. But first I want you to tell me something. Why did you kill Robert?" Teresa noted the confused look her friend gave her. She repeated the question, "Why did you kill Robert?"

Roland stared at her as though she had suddenly sprouted a second head. "Because of what he'd done to you." The words came slowly, like he didn't quite understand why he had to explain something so obvious. "To stop him from doing something worse."

"So you killed him to protect me?" Roland nodded once, "Do you think there was ever a time when your father killed to protect someone?"

A bitter laugh escaped Roland's lips, "Not unless he was getting paid for it."

"Exactly. You're not your father Roland. You're nothing like him. Waltz saw that from the beginning. You were her little brother. There isn't anything she wouldn't have done to keep you safe. No matter the cost to herself."

Harker and Belmonte sat in silence as Teresa tried to will her friend to understand. His free hand balled into a fist for a brief moment before he relaxed his fingers. He turned his eyes up to meet hers. Teresa could see his features soften as his steel gray eyes locked onto her bright blue ones. She watched him take a deep breath before he exhaled it through his nostrils. She prayed her risk would pay off. That Roland would see the truth in her words. When Roland finally spoke again, she knew she had him.

"Thank you, Teresa."

"You're welcome." Teresa nodded before she sipped her coffee. "And you know you can call me Terri right?"

And for the first time all night, Teresa saw a genuine smile grow on Roland's face.

"I do, but the name doesn't do you justice." Teresa felt her cheeks heat up as she held her mug in front of her face.

"So," she began, hoping to distract Roland, "Tango and Waltz? How'd you end up with those nicknames?" To her surprise, Roland's smile actually widened.

"My sister and I loved to dance." Roland explained, "The old man brought us with him on a job once. It was at some high class party and we were meant to serve as a distraction or something. As it turns out, a brother and sister fumbling their way across a dance floor makes for a pretty good distraction."

Teresa smiled as she imagined a young Roland trying his hardest to dance with his older sister.

"Afterwards, he decided that us knowing how to dance could prove useful. Said it'd help us blend into high society once we started taking our own contracts. We didn't really care about that though. We were just happy to learn something that didn't involve hurting each other. Before long we started calling each other our favorite dances. I was Tango, she was Waltz."

"So what was her real name?" Roland beckoned her closer. While she was confused why he apparently felt the need for secrecy, Teresa complied and leaned over the table. Roland leaned forward to meet and cupped his hands around her ear. In a conspiratorial whisper, he told her his sister's name.

* * *

To William's relief, this safe house opened as soon as the key slid home in the lock. Once he was inside, William took another swig from his pilfered bottle of tequila before he kicked the door shut behind him. The automatic locks clicked home a second later. He stumbled forward, trying to force the house's layout into his alcohol addled mind. His somewhat hazy memory helped him avoid banging his knee on the table propped against the wall. He wasn't as fortunate with the footlocker not six feet past it.

William fell to the floor in a tangle of limbs. The bottle fell from his hand as the floor rushed up to meet him. He hit the floor with a hard smack, his already blurred vision becoming even blurrier.

' _Huh, this floor is pretty comfortable._ ' William thought as he lay on the ground. He considered giving himself to blissful sleep. After all, he did drink the entire bottle of tequila and… ' _Since when does a single bottle do this to me?_ '

The stray thought was a shot of adrenaline to his mental faculties.

In an instant, William was on his hands and knees, the former of which were starting to feel a bit numb, fumbling for the empty bottle. When his fingers brushed against the bottle, he snatched it up and held the bottle under his nose.

As soon as the scent of almond reached his nostrils, he immediately dropped the bottle and scrambled into the kitchen, the numbness had crept up to his elbows.

Blackness started to edge out William's vision as he pulled himself up to the sink. With the final vestiges of his strength, he shoved two of his fingers down his throat. He emptied the contents of his stomach into the empty sink before he flopped onto the floor once again.

Confident that his aura could handle the remainder of the poison in his system, William allowed himself to fall into blissful unconsciousness.

 _Knock knock knock… Knock knock knock… Knock._

William's eyes snapped open at the familiar pattern. It was one he'd taught all of his contacts and informants to use in the event of an emergency. He was on his feet in moments, his limbs stiff from lying on the hard floor.

' _How long was I out?_ ' he thought as he stalked toward the door. _'On second thought, it doesn't matter._ ' Could've been minutes, could've been hours. What mattered was he was awake, and more importantly, alive.

"Who is it?" William croaked. A few seconds passed before the knocking repeated.

 _Knock knock knock… Knock knock knock… Knock._

A scowl crossed William's face as his hand reached for the lock. A repeated knock sequence meant the situation was dire. He gave his free arm a quick shake, releasing the blade from his bracer. Ready for anything, William pulled the door open, and found nobody waiting outside.

Or at least that's what William thought before something slammed into his face. For the third time that night William found himself sprawled on the floor. His body acted on instinct, rolling to his feet, his second blade sliding free of its casing. A fresh wave of adrenaline flowed through his body, chasing off any remaining drowsiness, as his attacker sauntered into his safe house.

"You're supposed to be dead." William said as he straightened his stance. His attacker merely smiled at him before she brushed a lock of strawberry pink hair away from her face. It was not a friendly smile. She wore a white coat over a brown corset, brown pants, and long, high heeled, white boots. Her hand casually twirled a frilly umbrella.

In spite of everything, William had to smile at his daughter, Neopolitan.

* * *

 _Author's Note: I think I'm starting to get a rhythm going on writing these things. This chapter felt like it came to me much more easily than normal. Here's hoping I can keep it up... Why do I feel like I just doomed myself right there._

 _So... what do you guys think of the reveal of Roland's sister? Feel free to let me know your thoughts/opinions/questions. Nothing motivates me more than feedback, positive or negative, from my readers. As always I hoped you all found something to enjoy in the chapter, and I will see y'all next time._


	19. Family Reunion

_Five Years Ago_

 _"What have you done?"_

Ephemera's voice sounded almost hollow in the nearly empty room. She paid no attention to the corpse tied to the chair across the room. A corpse she would have to make disappear before long. She paid no attention to William standing near the center of the room, fresh blood dripping from the man's knuckles. No, all of her attention, her focus, was centered on the small body lying at William's feet.

At first, she hardly recognized the prone figure. There was so much blood covering her swollen face that Ephemera had difficulty recognizing any of the girl's features. In all honesty, Ephemera just assumed that William had taken care of two contracts at once today to save some time. It wasn't until she noticed the girl's multicolored hair that Ephemera finally recognized the body lying before her.

"Waltz? Waltz?" Ephemera gently shook the girl by her shoulders. She called her by her beloved nickname a few more times before trying her real name. "Neopolitan, wake up." When the girl remained unresponsive, Ephemera pressed her fingers against her neck.

She couldn't feel a pulse.

"What have you done, William?" Ephemera repeated, struggling to keep her voice from breaking.

The hitman shrugged, "I disciplined a rebellious child." He started to tell her what had led up to the grisly results Ephemera had been called in to clean up. The woman didn't hear a single word of it. Her thoughts were still on the word William had used to describe this atrocity.

Disciplined? Such an unassuming word to describe what must've been the most brutal beat down of the fourteen-year-old's life. 'The bastard. He didn't have to go this far.'

"Anyway, I trust you know what to do with the bodies. I'd better get a move on before the other one gets too far away." William said, drawing Ephemera's attention to something she should've noticed immediately.

Roland was gone.

Looking down at Neopolitan's bruised and swollen face, Ephemera understood. She must've told him to run away while William was preoccupied with her. Ephemera hoped the kid had gotten as far away as he could.

"Damn kid is probably halfway across the city by now." William complained as he shut the door behind him.

Left alone with the two bodies, Ephemera finally let her mask drop. Tears welled up in her smokey black eyes as she knelt down to scoop the small girl into her arms. She'd let her crew deal with the man tied to the chair, but no one else was going to touch her adopted niece. Her breath caught in her throat as the body she reached for shattered into thousands of iridescent shards.

"Neopolitan?" Ephemera gasped as she searched the room again. Her ears picked up a faint whimper coming from a darkened corner of the room. Following the sound, Ephemera found the young girl huddled in the corner.

A wave of joy crashed over Ephemera. She almost pulled the young girl into her arms before she noticed how she was cradling a swollen right arm against her chest. Neopolitan turned blackened eyes up in alarm as the realization that she was no longer hidden sank in. Her already shallow breathing hitched as she tried to push herself further into the corner with her shaking legs.

"Please. Please just leave me alone." she begged, her raspy voice only audible due to the silence of the room.

"Shh, it's okay, Waltz" Ephemera said, making sure to use the nickname to show she meant no harm. "I promise I won't hurt you."

Her words seemed to have reached the young girl as she stopped trying to get away. Instead she turned her panicked, mismatched eyes about the room.

"Tango? Where's Tango?" Desperate, the young girl locked eyes with Ephemera and she spoke the last words she would ever say. "What happened to my brother?"

"He got away, Waltz." Ephemera assured her. Neopolitan panicked expression turned to relief before her body gave a small shudder. She went limp just as Ephemera put her arms around the girl. Careful not to jostle her injured arm, Ephemera lifted her off the floor and started to carry her out of the room.

 _"Everything is going to be okay, Waltz." she told the unconscious girl in her arms, "I promise everything will be okay."_

* * *

 _Present Day_

Neo smiled as William stared her down. With an eager bounce to her step, she sauntered into her father's safehouse. Her open umbrella resting easily on her shoulder, waiting to be brought to bear. Her mismatched pink and brown eyes gleamed with anticipation for what was to come.

"You've been waiting for this." he said, shedding the dark grey trench coat he wore with a roll of his shoulder. Neo's smile grew wider as she noted the two foot blades extending past his hands. "Well let's get on with it then. You know how I hate disappointing my children."

He stabbed at her with the blade on his right arm. Neo deflected the stab with a spin of her umbrella. The dust infused canopy easily withstood her father's attack. In response, she gave the umbrella's handle a sharp tug, revealing the blade hidden inside.

Armed with a blade of her own, she spun to William's left while slashed upwards. Should the blade connect, William's intestines would be spilling onto the floor before he could blink.

The blade was stopped bare centimeters from his torso, his left hand wrapped around her wrist like a vice.

"Familiar," William smirked as he drew back his arm, "don't you have anything ne…"

Neo interrupted him with a solid ram of her forehead into his face. His grip slackened and she pulled herself free before planting her foot into his gut. Her father doubled over as the air rushed out of his lungs.

Neo did not take the opportunity to capitalize on her advantage. She had been waiting five years for this day. She wasn't going to rush to its conclusion. So she stepped back, sheathing her narrow blade, and allowed William the chance to recover. All while shooting him a self satisfied smirk that asked him, "New enough for you?"

"You little..." William stopped himself with a deep breath. He gave a quick shake of his head before he straightened himself out. "Fine. If that's how you want to play." His eyes narrowed as he slowly stepped around her. Neo's smile never faltered as she watched for the subtle bunching of muscles that would precede his next attack.

William slashed at her with such sudden ferocity, Neo almost missed it's warning. Almost. She pivoted around his right cut, and ducked under his left before she snapped her umbrella closed and jabbed it at his exposed chest. He deflected the jab with his right forearm and caught her follow up kick with a kick of his own.

Using the combined recoil of the pair of kicks, William disengaged from Neo. He backed away three steps before he slid behind a table. With a grunt of exertion, William kicked the table's corner, sending it spinning across the ground directly towards Neo.

Neo rolled over the table before it slammed into her. As soon as her feet touched the ground, Neo ducked low to avoid having her throat cut open by William's scissoring blades. As she ducked, Neo kicked at her father's knee. William caught the blow with his thigh.

Neo sprung up, pressing the attack and falling into rhythm with her father. Their battle raged across the bottom floor of the safe house. Every attack met it's perfect block which in turn met it's perfect counter. William's blades would be redirected by her umbrella. Neo's kicks would be absorbed by his elbows. Bits and pieces of furniture would be used as shields or obstacles.

In the end, it was her blade that drew first blood. It was a shallow cut to his right pectoral. Hardly even a flesh wound, but it told Neo one very important thing. Ephemera's poison had done its job. William Harker was weakened.

Once again, William disengaged from Neo, taking four full steps back to avoid any follow up attacks. Neo watched the man examine the wound underneath the growing red stain on his chest. With a shake of his head William turned his gaze towards her and shot her an expression she wasn't expecting from the older man. Was that a hint of amusement?

"I think you might be the first of my children to actually draw blood." William gave his arms a quick pull, retracting the twin blades, "I guess that means I have to stop playing around with you."

Neo raised an eyebrow at her father's obvious bluff. Who was he trying to fool? The bottle Ephemera let him have was laced enough poison inside it to kill an Alpha Beowolf. To be perfectly honest the fact that William had managed to survive long enough for Neo to confront him at all was nothing short of a goddamned miracle.

Her father was right about one thing however. It was time to stop playing around. With an almost cruel smile, Neo stepped toward her opponent. Her narrow blade traced small circles at her side as William retreated two steps for every one of hers.

That was when she noticed her father's smirk. His skin starting to turn pale, as if he had suddenly lost a fair amount of blood. Maybe there was more poison still in his system than she'd thought.

To say that Neo was surprised when William broke into a mad sprint directly towards her would've been an understatement.

Acting on instinct rather than training, Neo dropped to one knee while snapping her umbrella open. She braced herself behind her umbrella shield just as William's feet left the ground. She felt her father throw all of his weight onto her barrier before he pushed off of it with all the strength he could muster in his legs. The strength was substantial, practically shoving her to the ground as he launched himself upwards.

There was a loud crash as bits of rubble rained down on her umbrella. Sure that her father would come crashing down on her, Neo spun away from her current position. For the first time since their confrontation began Neo's smile faltered. A wave of panic washed over her as she took in the fresh hole in the ceiling.

Knowing the danger of letting William out of her sight for an instant, Neo sprinted for the stairs to the next floor as fast as her legs would carry her. She paused at the top of the stairs before carefully rounding the corner to the upstairs hallway. Her father was nowhere to be seen. Wary of an ambush, Neo took slow measured steps forward. Her ears strained to pick out the slightest of sounds. Her fingers flexed against the handle of her blade, once again sheathed inside the umbrella.

Finally she reached the first door in the hall. She swung the door open quickly before she took a single step back to avoid any surprise attacks waiting for her. The room was completely empty. She repeated the process thrice more until she came to the final room in the hall. Despite her patience growing thin, she resisted the urge to charge through the final door with reckless abandon. The instant you lost your cool around William Harker was the instant you died to William Harker.

The final room was almost as empty as the four that preceded it, save for the large hole in the floor. Neo was about to step inside the room to investigate when she felt a faint breeze brush against her face. Immediately her eyes went to the open window on the far side of the room and she understood. William had fled the moment he separated himself from her.

Neo cursed herself as the realization that she'd missed her opportunity sank in. William had escaped and would start hunting her down as soon as he recovered. And he wouldn't make the same mistake she had.

The weight of her failure dragged her arms down as she turned on the balls of her feet. And stepped into the solid form of William Harker. Surprise drove her a step back before she lashed out with her umbrella. Her father caught the swing with his left forearm. In that same instant he drove his right palm into her chest.

Neo felt her sternum threaten to give way as she was lifted off the ground. Pain lanced up her spine as she slammed into the window sill. She cleared away her blurry vision with a quick shake of the head. Her eyes coming into focus as William held something out in front of him.

It took only a second for Neo to recognize them as a cluster of five dust grenades.

"One for every birthday I missed." William pulled the pin off one of them with a smile before he tossed the whole cluster across the room.

Neo barely had time to snap her umbrella open before the grenades detonated.

* * *

"You're sure everything's okay?" Vincent asked, prompting Roland to roll his eyes so far into the back of his head he thought he might've seen a bit of his brain. Next to him, Teresa tried to laugh discreetly into her hand. It was more than the gunslinger could say about his own partner who had a gigantic smile on his face. No doubt the big faunus could sense the exasperation Roland was sure was rolling off of him in waves.

For like the thousandth time that day, Roland had to assure one of his friends that everything was a-okay and all hunky dory. He did however neglect to mention that it was the first time all day that he'd actually meant it. Thankfully, Vincent seemed more than prepared to take him at face value.

"It's starting to get pretty late." the leader of VTRY noted, checking the time on his scroll. "We should start heading back."

Teresa and Yuri both nodded in agreement as they turned to follow him back to the academy.

"Actually," Roland said, holding up a finger in an effort to get everyone's attention. "There was one other thing I wanted to do with Teresa tonight." The Belmonte heiress raised an eyebrow at his statement. "I uhh. I just heard it the way you must've heard it. Let me try that again. Teresa would you mind staying out with me a little bit longer?"

Teresa brushed a stray lock of black hair away from her eyes. "Seeing how you asked so nicely, it would be most impolite of me to deny your request." She turned to face the others, "We'll catch up with you guys in bit. Alright?"

Vincent exchanged a glance with Yuri before looking back to Roland and Teresa. "Just make sure you two stay out of trouble. I don't want to get a call in the middle of the night about one of you guys running off on your own, again. Am I understood?"

"Without question sir." Roland smirked as he gave a mock salute. It was Vincent's turn to roll his eyes as he and Yuri turned to leave.

"We'll be careful." Teresa promised as the two walked away. Teresa laughed with Roland when Yuri gave them a half hearted wave before they turned the street corner. "Okay Roland, what was it you wanted to do tonight?"

"Well," Roland began, holding his arm out. The gunslinger tried to control the flow of blood to his cheeks as he felt Teresa hook her arm around his own. "I figured since I told you so much about myself, it only seems fair for you to return the favor."

"Seems fair enough." the Belmonte agreed as they started down the street. "Where would you like to start?"

"Any interesting hobbies I should know about?"

Roland smiled as Teresa started telling him about this one book she had read while cooped up in that infirmary room for the past week. It was about a young boy from some tropical islands who's thrust out into the world after a horde of dark monsters invades his home and destroys it. The boy then travels across the world searching for his friends while fighting the dark monsters. He's joined by a knight and sorcerer in search of their king.

It all sounded a little silly to Roland but he had to admit it was nice to see Teresa relax and not have to worry about representing her family name for once.

"Anyway, I'm pretty sure I'm getting close to the climax of the book." Teresa continued, "The three heroes are approaching the the castle being used as the villain's lair."

"Sounds interesting. Be sure to let me know how it goes."

"Or I could let you borrow it after I finish."

"Maybe." Roland shrugged. While he appreciated the offer, he never was one for reading. Fiction or otherwise. Afterall why read about the adventures of other people, when you could go out and have adventures yourself.

The two of them continued their walk of the city. Teresa told him about some other books she had read before she started to tell him about her recent chess match with Yuri. Roland fought to keep his laughter held in as Teresa explained, in excruciating detail, every strange, nonsensical move the bear faunus made.

"He moved his king to the frontlines for goodness sake." Teresa told him. Her clear blue eyes taking on a manic sheen as she tried to wrap her head around his partner's strategy. "Even amateurs know not to do that." Roland could hold it in no longer.

"Sounds like Yuri's more diabolical than I ever gave him credit for." Roland laughed, prompting Teresa to raise an eyebrow. "So, how long did it take you to finally beat him?"

"Too long." Teresa admitted, "I kept thinking that he was setting traps for me."

"I think I'm going to have to teach our large friend the... honorable game of poker." Roland gave his chin a scratch as he considered the idea.

"Oh no." Teresa smacked her hand across Roland's chess, "You are not teaching him how to play cards. He'd be unstop…"

BOOM!

As one, the two them spun to the direction the sound had come from. Roland drew Lightning from its holster. In the same moment Teresa had uncoiled Nebula from her belt. Once it became apparent that the two of them were not under attack, Roland relaxed his finger off Lightning's trigger. If only slightly.

"What do you think happened?" Teresa asked, her eyes locking on to a pillar of smoke rising in the distance.

"Maybe a gas station blew up." Roland suggested. Somehow, deep in his gut, Roland knew it wasn't. Next to him Teresa gave him a doubting look before she nodded once.

"Well come on then." she said, recoiling her whip as she took a step toward the smoke. "We need to go help."

"I thought we promised Vincent we'd stay out of trouble." Roland protested, even as he stepped forward to follow Teresa.

"We're not looking for trouble." Teresa said, "Someone could be injured. We're going to go see if we can help. You know, doing our duty as huntsmen."

Roland couldn't help but roll his eyes. "Here's hoping Vincent sees it that way."

* * *

Pain lanced through Neo's body as she slammed into the ground. Lights danced before her eyes before the dark alleyway she had landed in came into view. Her umbrella was coated in black soot from the explosion that threw her from the second story window.

Gritting her teeth, the young woman rolled onto her side before pushing herself to her feet. She stumbled to her knees after taking a few steps towards the street. She blinked away tears as she looked down at her leg. A shard of glass was buried into her thigh.

Blood welled up around the bit of shrapnel, making it difficult for Neo to get a purchase on it with her gloved fingers. Cursing her luck, Neo placed the handle of her umbrella between her teeth and bit down. With the makeshift gag in place, Neo removed her glove before she dug her fingers into the wound. Her jaw clenched down on the umbrella's handle as she fought to keep from screaming.

As soon as she felt her fingers make purchase, Neo yanked the shard out of her leg. Her Aura set to work healing her injured leg as she let her umbrella fall from her mouth. She examined the blood soaked bit of glass she held in her hand. About three inches of red stained glass sat in her hand.

"That looked like it hurt."

Neo turned her head up to the broken window she had been knocked out of. Framed by smoke stood William Harker, staring down at her with a cruel smile of his own.

Neo rolled to the side as soon as she noticed the muscles in William's legs shift. A half second later William was right where she had been. A spiderweb of cracks spread out from where his right knee had slammed into the concrete.

"It's been awhile since I've had to convert this many of my organs." William commented as he stood upright.

Neo's eyes narrowed as she remembered exactly what her father's semblance was. When she was twelve and had just come into her own semblance, Neo had asked her father what his semblance was. He had told her then that he could shapeshift. It would be several years before she came to understand the full scope of what he had meant.

Shapeshifting was far too pedestrian a term to describe what William was capable of doing to his own body. While it was true he could alter his appearance at will, the full scope of his ability went far, far deeper than just surface level alteration. He had full control over just about every cell in his body and could alter them as he saw fit.

His favored trick was converting unnecessary organs into extra muscle mass and bone density for increased strength and durability. But such an ability came with its own risks. William had to end the fight quickly or he could end up causing severe tissue and nerve damage, if he was lucky. Unfortunately for Neo, it seemed that ending this fight was exactly what he had in mind.

"You should feel proud. But not too proud. After all," William continued before he exploded into action. Neo barely had time to blink before he smacked aside her umbrella with contemptuous ease while driving a blade through her chest. "Pride comes before the fall."

A faint gasp escaped Neo's mouth before her entire body burst into tiny, iridescent shards.

Not ten feet away the real Neo burst from her hiding spot behind a dumpster. She heard her father chuckle as she raced for the open street at the end of the alley. Fighting William in the narrow alley was tantamount to suicide. She had to lure him to the open street where she could maneuver freely.

Neo didn't have to look to know that William was following behind her. His footsteps were louder than claps of thunder as he raced behind her. She had just reached the alley's mouth when her father slammed into her. A wordless grunt escaped Neo's lips as she was lifted off the ground. She had only just wrapped her aura around herself before she was slammed into a parked car.

Neo heard the shocked gasps of civilians as they scrambled away from the car they collided into. The vehicle slid a full three feet from its parking spot.

William pulled her head back with a sharp tug on her hair. Before he could ram her forehead into the roof of the car however, Neo jabbed backwards with her umbrella. She felt his hot breath blow across her neck when the umbrella's handle struck his solar plexus. She followed through by driving her heel into his instep before striking his nose with her elbow.

Free of his grip, Neo turned and put all of her weight into swinging the hook of her umbrella handle into his groin. Neo watched as William stumbled away, his hands cradling his injured groin. Unsheathing her blade, Neo stepped behind her father. Grabbing a fist full of his hair she yanked his head back and placed the razor sharp edge of her blade to his throat.

"Waltz?"

Neo's eyes widened as she turned to face the voice. She could hardly believe her eyes as she took in the sight of the last person she expected to see tonight. Across the street, forcing his way through a crowd of people with a girl she didn't recognize was her brother. Familiar steel colored eyes met mismatched pink and brown as brother and sister stared at one another for the first time in five years.

Snickt

"No!" Roland shouted, his hand drawing a revolver belted to his hip.

Neo's lips parted in a gasp as she glanced down to see a steel blade protruding from her father's elbow into her stomach.

* * *

 _AN: Let's talk about William Harker. Of all my characters he has gone through the most change from his original conception. When I first came up with William Harker, he was significantly less... well him. While never what one would call a nice person, William was originally supposed to be a much more honorable character. He didn't have many ethics, but the ones he did have he clung to with a vice grip. He didn't hurt children and wouldn't accept a contract he didn't agree with. While not on the best of terms with his children, they didn't want his head on a platter either. He was more thoughtful and introspective, offering rare pearls of wisdom to those he deemed worthy of it._

 _But as I kept writing for him things started changing. The character started to go in directions I hadn't planned. He started doing things I never thought of. Those aforementioned ethics he had went out the window and he quickly became one of the most vicious characters I've ever made. And I've loved every second of it. Originally William was going to make his way into Beacon by masquerading as a teacher, a man named Locke. Incidently this change is why I'm currently in the progress of reworking chapter 8. During his tenure, he was supposed to bond with Roland and eventually reconcile with his son... I got bored with the plot line very quickly._

 _Then the incident with Robert occurred and I connected him to William. After that one thing led to another. William became even more brutal. And the rest is history. William went from being a vicious, murderous, anti-hero at best to full blown villain._

 _His semblance also went through a few changes. Originally he was going to be able to not only shapeshift, but also slowly begin to copy the combat style of whomever he was fighting at the time. The idea was the longer someone fought him, the better he'd be able copy them. After quickly realizing how effing broken that was, I dropped the fighting aspect of it and William became a straight up shapshifter._

 _Anyway, as always I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter. Big thank you to my Beta reader Guntherson962. The next one's going to be a barrel of fun I can tell you that much. Feel free to leave a review or to ask any questions and I'll see you guys, and gals, next time._


	20. Notice

Hello everybody. Sorry to say that isn't the next chapter in the story, but there's something I wanted to tell everyone who's been reading this story. I'm going to start over with VTRY. I've been going back and forth on this decision ever since chapter 11 and it's been stressing me out every time I start up the next chapter. There're several elements that I've written that I like, more than a few scenes that I'm legitimately proud of. The dance sequence way back in chapter 6 springs to mind.

All that being said however, there's several other things I've written that have been irritating me and I've been wanting to change them for a good long while now. For a while now I told myself to finish Volume 1. Just finish Volume 1 then go back and edit what I don't like... Well over time those things I didn't like started to add up. Hell the entirety of chapter 8, and anything that spawned from that chapter, needs to be redone. At this point it feels like the bad in the story outweighs the good and I'm going to practically have to rewrite the entire thing anyway. The bit I'm most disappointed in is the fact that I'm at what is essentially the finale of volume one... and two of the main characters are completely uninvolved.

So with all that in mind I just decided to cut the proverbial cord, take a small break, and start again later. Until then, to everyone who left a review, to everybody who favorited/followed this story, to anyone simply clicked on this story out of curiosity. I give you my sincere and heartfelt thanks.


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